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I 

Cochran,  Page  A. 

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INGERSOLL'S  GOSPEL  ANALYZED. 


BY 


PAGE  A.  COCHRAN, 


I  u 


//is    Own    Af'gumcnts   Prove    the  very    Things  He     Tries  to 

Argue  Aaginst.      The  Ms,  for  this   Work  was  being 

Typewritten  at  the  Tifne  of  IngersolVs  Deatli. 


INGERSOLL'S    LECTURE,     "  WHAT  MUST   WE   DO  TO  BE 
SAVED,"  IS  PRINTED  IN  THE  BACK  PART  OP  THIS  BOOK. 


4' 


ST.  ALBANS,  VT. 
1900. 


ii^|i|W»«f«ii;i'»»«M»a>il|wwri 


j 


I 


/ 


^- 


ui 


CHAPTER  SUBJECTS. 


Entered  accordiug  to  act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1899, 

Bv  PAGE  A.  COCHRAN, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Cougress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED. 


i 


1 


^ 


1.3 

en 


I. 

•  FAITH  OR  BELIEVING. 

Serpent. — Atonement. — Faith,  or  Believing.  —  Regeneration.  —  Race 
Extinct  without  Faith. — Sowing. — Rich  Ruler. — Interpolation. 

II. 

FAITH  OR  BEUEVING. 

Interpolation. — Love  Giver  more  than  Gift. — Catholic  Slaughterings, 
Object  of. — Sermon  on  the  Mount. — Predestination. — Zaccheus. — 
Crucifiction  of  Thieves. 

III. 
BELIEVING  WITHOUT   UNDERSTANDING. 

Ingersoll  Uses  Arguments  that  Prove  the  Things  he  Tries  to  Argue 
Against. — Inspiration. — Discovery  of  Truth. 

IV. 

FINAL  BLOW  TO  INGERSOLL'S  NO-FAITH 

GOSPEL. 

The  object  of  this  Chapter,  (Ingersoll  denying  the  necessity  of  be- 
lieving anything  to  be   saved)   is  to   show   that    he    proves    his 
own  doctrine  false,  and  that  to  be  saved  by  his  gospel,  faith  is^ 
an  absolute  necessity  as  much  as   though   we  accept  the  Bible 
gospel. — IngersoU's  ways  of   Being  Saved. 


CD 


297822 


4 


V. 

CHRISTIANITY-BARBARISM. 
Fall  of  Nations,  Cause  of.— This  Republic  will  soon  go. 

VI. 

FRANCE. 

Infidelity's  Heinous    Work.— Dissolute   Girl   to    Take   the    Place  of 
Deity.— Infidelity  of   France    Causing   Fulfilment    of  Prophecy 
Etc.,  Etc.  ^       ^' 

VII. 

ANALYSIS  OF  INGERSOLL'S  GOSPEL    OF    INTEL- 
LIGENCE. 

Crime  a  Mistake.— Every  Good  Thing  in  His  Gospel  Taken  from 
Gospel  of  Christ.— Difference  in  worldly  and  True  wisdom.— 
Ingersoll  Shows  same  Hypocrisy  Towards  and  Crucifies  the  same 
Christ  as  Hypocrites  of  Old. 

VIII. 

ANALYSIS  OF  INGERSOLL'S   GOSPEL   OF  INTEL- 
LIGENCE CONTINUED. 

Blasphemy.— Dungeon  of  Mind.— Traitors.— Liberty.— "  Men  Loved 
Darkness." 

IX. 

ANALYSIS  OF  INGERSOLL'S   GOSPEL   OF   INTEL- 
LIGENCE CONTINUED. 

Read  Testament.— Admits  Need  of  Forgiveness  Number  of  Times; 
Denies  it  as  M%ny.— Can  we  Be  Unjust  to  God  ?— He  says  "  No 
Bankrupt  Court  in  Next  world,  Every  Cent  Must  Be  Paid."— 
The  Injured  Girl.— Never  Happy  as  Though  we  Had  Not  Sinned  ? 
— His  Gospel  incomplete. 

X. 

ANALYSIS  OF  INGERSOLL'S  GOSPEL   OF   INTEL- 
LIGENCE CONCLUDED. 

Heaven  or  Hell  Our  Own  Choice.  — He  Despises  Humility  and 
the  Atonement  of  Christ.—"  Every  Cent  Must  Be  Paid  ;  "  but  no 
way  to  Pay  It.— Heaven  where  Those  Are  we  Love.— Some  Saved  ; 
Others  Lost. 


i 


> 


I 


XI. 

REVISED    VERSION   OF    INGERSOLL'S   CHAPTER 

ON  "THE  METHODISTS." 

Great  Opinion  of  Self.— His  Calling.— Unlike  Wesley.— Rescuing  the 
Deity.— Infidels  Their  Own  Enemies. 

XII. 

SLIGHT  ANALYSIS  OF   INGERSOLL'S  GOSPEL  OF 

HUMOR. 

Wine,  Tobacco,  Hay.— A  Mistake  That  Solemn  People  Are  Always  Stu- 
pid and  That  no  Humorous  Person  Ever  Founded  a  Religion.— 
Humor  no  Tendency  to  Make  People  what  They  Should  Be.— 
Despondency  of  Great  Humorists.— Something  Lacking  in  Soul 
Regardless  of  Humor.— God's  Mistakes.— Enemies.— Ingersoll 
Divided  Against  Himself.  —  Unconsciously  Reveals  Belief  in 
Prophets. 

XIII. 

INGERSOLL  PUZZLED— MYSTERY  EXPLAINED. 

Christ  Did  Not  write  a  word,  Nor  Command  Others  to  write  or 
Preserve  His  Sayings,  or  Sign  the  writings  himself;  Christ  Could 
Not  Have  Done  a  Sillier  Thing,  for  He  Is  that  Word.— No  Com- 
mand to  Preserve  word  ;  but  Divine  Information  that  in  would  be 
Preserved.  —  Ingersoll's  Reason  for  Christ's  writing  Nothing; 
Reply  Thereto. 

XIV. 

INGERSOLL'S  GOSPEL  OF  SCIENCE 

Also  Goes  Against  Him,  for  by  it  we  May  Explain,  from  Common- 
Sense  Principles,  Miracles  and  Inspiration. 

XV. 

MISCELLANEOUS    GLEANINGS. 

Calvin.— Voltaire.— Methodist  Converts.  —  Flood.  —  Babel  Tower.— 
Science. — Good  Times  Coming. 

XVI. 
IN  CONCLUSION. 

XVII. 
SINCE  INGERSOLL  DIED. 


{ 


i 


PREFACE. 


The  manuscript  for  this  work  was  being  type-written  at 
the  time  of  Mr.  Ingersoll's  death  and  as  his  works  are  still 
published  and  sold,  and  as  "  A  Eulogy  to  Ingersoll ' ' — in 
book  form — has  been  published  since  his  death  it  is  evident 
that  this  book  appears  upon  the  scene  at  the  right  time.  It 
should  be  read  by  Spiritualists  and  all  who  read  the  *  *  Free 
Thought  Magazine  "  or  any  of  that  class  of  literature. 

Some  will  object  to  the  publication  of  this  book  because 
Ingersoll  is  not  here.  Some  will  say,  "  Let  the  dead  rest." 
Some  will  say,  "  What  does  he  expect  to  gain  by  printing 
that  now — writing  about  a  dead  man?"  Others  will  say 
something  different.  And  the  writer  is  aware  that  such 
things  should  be  looked  for.  He  knows  that  some,  of  in- 
fluence too,  will  thus  endeavor  to  hurl  their  icy  bomb-shells 
and  lethean  doses  of  anaesthetic  powders  into  the  arena,  the 
tendency  of  which  would  be  to  dampen  and  chill  and  para- 
lyze the  ardor  of  many  who  will  read  and  digest.  But  they 
forget  that  most  of  the  people  who  thus  criticise  this  work 
have  been  and  are  to-day,  above  all  classes  of  people  in  the 
world,  anxiously  reaching  out  after  books  and  writings  from 
the  pen  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Ingersoll  who  talked  and  wrote 
about  dead  men  all  his  life  time,  and  who  was  in  his  greatest 
glory  when,  with  his  "  bright  wit  "  and  "catchy  rhetoric," 
so-called,  he  was  ridiculing  and  abusing  the  memories  of  the 
greatest  and  best  and  most  useful  men   that  ever  lived,  like 


i 


i 


Moses  and  the  Prophets  ;  and  Wesley  and  Calvin  and  Luther. 
And  we  long  a^o  catne  to  the  co7idusio7i  that  he  who  7vould  meet 
with  success  must  be  willing  to  face  oppositio7i,  a7id  deliberately^ 
cahtily  and  quietly,  move  alono^  in  defiance  of  opposing  forces. 

While  at  the  head  of  each  chapter  I  have  mentioned  sub- 
jects treated,  one  must  read  the  chapter  if  he  wishes  to  get 
any  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  they  are  treated  and  thereby 
get  the  force  of  the  arguments.  As  a  rule  you  can  go  ahead 
of  a  speaker,  in  your  thoughts,  when  he  gets  to  certain  points, 
and  form  an  idea  of  how  his  thought  will  terminate;  but  you 
will  find  it  impossible  to  do  so  in  this  case. 

Mr.  Ingersoll  aims  to  overthrow  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity as  taught  in  the  Bible — miracles,  inspiration,  the  di- 
vinity of  Christ,  the  atonement,  salvation  by  faith,  re- 
generation or  the  new  birth  and  tries  to  show  that  Matthew, 
Mark  and  Luke  did  not  preach  the  new  birth  or  atonement  or 
necessity  of  believing.  The  aims  of  the  author  of  this  book  are 
to  clearly  reveal  the  incorrectness  of  Ingersoll' s  argument  and  to 
show  that  his  own  arguments  prove  the  things  that  he  argues 
against. 

Friends  of  good  judgment  advise  me  that  perhaps  I  am 
too  personal,  so  much  so  that  the  strong  statements  and  per- 
sonalities would  be  detrimental  to  the  sale  of  the  book;  but 
let  the  reader  ever  keep  before  him  the  fact  that  the  writer  has 
a  keen  perception  and  appreciation  of  the  "  vasty  "  difference 
between  flippant  nonsense  and  personal  abuse,  and  good  logi- 
cal and  irresistable  argument,  that  he  aims  to  indulge  in  the 
latter  even  more  than  in  humorous  strikes,  and  intends  no  per- 
sonal abuse,  and  never  indulged  in  anything  but  kindly  feel- 
ing for  Mr.  Ingersoll  and  I  believe  he  can  take  no  exceptions 
to  my  plain  way  of  putting  things  and  will  see  that  I  simply 
meet  him,  in  brotherly  kindness,  on  his  own  battle-field  and 
fight  him  with  the  material  for  which  he  calls, common-sense, 
intelligence,  science.  But  the  weapons  with  which  he  attacks 
Christianity  are  keen  reproach,  ironical  and  misleading  wit, 
and  ridicule. 


This  is  a  reply,  more  particularly  to  his  lecture  •'  What 
Must  We  Do  to  be  Saved,"  and  statements  made  in  the  N. 
Y.  Journal,  Feb.  19,  1897.  The  above  named  lecture  is 
printed  in  the  back  part  of  this  book  and  should  be  read  before 
beginning  our  reply. 

PAGE  A.  COCHRAN. 
Washington,  D.  C. 


> 


Chapter  i. 


\ 


FAITH    OR    BELIEVING. 


Serpent. — Atonement. — Faith,  or   Believing.  —  Regeneration. — Race 
Extinct  without  Faith.— Sowing. — Rich  Ruler. — Interpolation. 


(Please  read  the  preface  ;  and  should  the  reader  think  me  too  personal  in 
speaking  of  the  dead  let  him  remember  that  when  this  was  written  we  were 
speaking  to  and  of  the  living.) 


I  have  in  my  possession,  at  the  time  of  this  writing, 
a  copy  of  IngersolPs  lecture  :  "What  Must  We  Do  to  be 
Saved.''  The  very  outside  page  of  the  cover  of  that  book 
shows  the  condition  that  an  infidel  realizes  his  soul  to  be  in. 
Yea!  how  unconsciously  and  unwittingly  has  he  there  por- 
trayed the  condition  of  the  sinner  without  redemption!  Be- 
hold the  serpent  coiled  around  the  stalk  with  his  lieadF 
•  couched  behiud  U,  wiflh  his  hi^siftg  detiestable  mouth  wide 
"^penready  to  strike  his  poisonous  fangs  into  the  flesh  of 
the  passerby!  Behold  the  virus!  but  where  is  the  antidote? 
Behold  the  disease!  but  where  is  the  remedy? 

In  the  preface  of  that  book  Ingersoll  says  that  noth- 
ing is  said  by  Matthew,  Mark,  or  Lnke  about  the  atone- 
ment. A  principal  argument  running  through  the  lecture 
seems  to  be  that  those  three  Apostles  neither  knew  or  said 
anything  of  the  atonement,  or  the  need  of  faith.     What 

(9) 


) 


are  the  facts?  He  either  wilfully  deceives  the  ignorant  or 
he  uses  little  reason  himself.  What  person  with  a  thim- 
ble full  of  sense  inside  of  his  skull  wall  say  to  any  rational 
being  that  any  man  ever  preached  Christ  without  preach- 
ing the  atonement?  Christ  is  the  atonement.  In  preach- 
ing Christ,  did  they  not,  therefore,  preach  the  atonement? 
Who  then  was  more  earnest  in  preaching  the  atonement 
than  the  very  men,  Matthew,  ]Mark  and  Luke  whom  Inger- 
soll  says  never  preached  it  ?  They  are  also  noted  for 
quoting  from  the  Prophets  when  coming  to  a  place 
^of  fulfilled  prophecy.  The  Prophets  proclaimed  the  aton- 
ing Christ  and  that  was  the  object  of  Matthew,  Mark  and 
Luke  in  quoting  them. 

Now  about  believing,  or  faith  :  Christ  said  in  the  ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  Recorded  in  Matt.,  that  only  those 
who  do  the  will  of  His  Father  can  enter  His  kingdom. 
What  is  the  Father^s  will?  That  ye  believe  on  Him 
whom  He  f  the  Father)  hath  sent.  Does  not  that  concern 
our  faith?  Nobody  ever  did  God^s  will,  kept  the  com- 
mandments, without  believing.  We  cannot  do  the  will  of 
the  Father  without  doing  the  will  of  the  Son.  We  cannot 
do  the  gospel  of  Christ  without  doing  the  will  of  the 
Father.  The  will  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  toward  us  are 
identical.  It  is  among  the  impossibilities  for  any  rational 
being  to  live  up,  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  to  the 
righteous  standard  of  the  Bible  gospel  and  remain  an 
unbeliever. 

I  want  you  to  remember  also  that  in  the  Christ  of  the 
New  Testament  is  the  God  of  the  Old.  When  some  un- 
believing Jews  were  trying  to  pick  flaws  in  Christ  he  said 
to  them,  ''Before  Abraham  was  I  Am."  Do  you  catch 
the  meaning?  When  Moses  was  commanded  to  go  and 
lead  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  God  said,  tell  them  "I  Am 
has  sent  you.''     So  when  the  Jews  asked  Christ  if  He  was 

(lO) 


/ 


> 


) 


greater  than  their  Father  Abraham  He  represented  Him- 
self as  the  same  great  ''I  Am"  who  was  the  God  of  their 
forefathers.  These  things  being  facts,  when  Christ  said 
in  Matthew,  do  my  Father's  will  or  miss  of  heaven,  it 
was  equivalent  to  saying  what  Ingersoll  says  the  first  three 
gospels  do  not  mention,  a  need  of  faith  for  salvation  ;  be- 
cause none  would  do  the  Feather's  will  without  faith. 
Where  are  your  senses?  And  that  is  the  intelligence 
that  Ingersoll  says  must  save  the  world. 

In  the  Old  Testament  God  says,  "Look  unto  me 
and  be  ye  saved."  The  same  God,  in  Christ,  said  in  Luke, 
come  to  me  for  rest.  In  one  place  we  are  told  to  "look," 
in  the  other  to  "come."  Both  are  equivalent  to  declaring 
salvation  through  faith,  for  certainly  if  we  did  not  believe 
we  would  not  come,   we  would  not  look. 

We  are  told  also,  in  Matthew,  that  when  the  Pharisees 
and  Sadusees  came  to  John  the  Baptist  to  be  baptised  in 
the  name  of  Christ,  he  said  to  them,  "Who  hath  warned 
you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come?"  Another  recogni- 
tion, in  Matthew,  of  salvation  through  faith,  for  they  would 
not  have  acted  without  believing. 

Positive  evidence  of  the  necessity  of  faith  in  the  atone- 
ment, for  salvation,  is  found  also  in  the  21st  chapter  of 
Matthew.  Christ  asked  the  chief  priests  and  elders  from 
whence  John's  baptism  was.  They,  knowing  enough  to 
know  that  Christ,  as  ever,  had  the  better  of  them  reason- 
ed this  way:  "If  we  say,  of  men,  he  will  say,  we  fear  the 
people  ;  if  we  say  from  heaven,  he  will  say,  why  did  you 
not  believe  him?"  They  believed  not,  but  preferred  still 
to  remain  in  their  sins.  Christ  also  told  them  that  the 
publicans  and  harlots  would  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God 
before  them,  and  the  very  next  verse  tells  us  that  it  is  be- 
cause they  accept  salvation  by  a  living  faith.  "For  John 
capie  unto  you  in  the  w^ay  of  righteousness,  and  ye  believed 

(11) 


i%^\^l  ' 


him  not  :  but  the  publicans  and  harlots  believed  him  : 
and  ye,  when  ye  had  seen  repented  not  afterward , 
that  ye  might  believe  him. ' '  Mark  tells  us  the  same  thing. 
What  can  be  plainer  than  these  things  proving  the  falsity 
of  IngersolTs  statements? 

In  closing  his  chapter  on  St.  John  he  says  the  ideas  of 
salvation  depending  upon  belief,  and  the  necessity  of  re- 
generation find  their  warrant  ''in  the  book  of  John"  and 
''nowhere  else.'' 

We  need  to  say  but  little  on  the  gospels,  about 
the  atonement,  or  salvation  by  faith;  and  a  perfectly 
direct  statement  is  made  in  regard  to  conversion  in  the 
gospel  by  Matt.,  18:3.  The  gospel,  according  to  Matthew, 
Mark  and  Luke,  as  well  as  John  and  all  the  epistles,  are 
full  of  regeneration.  The  coming  to  love  God  and  allow- 
ing his  righteousness  to  sway  us  is  regeneration.  Are  not 
Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke,  and  the  Pentateuch  and  all  the 
Prophets  full  of  it? 

Record  is  given  in  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke  of  Christ 
having  said  to  a  lady,  "Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole," 
and  one  of  tliem  adds,  "Go  in  peace."  In  Luke  he  said  to 
a  man,  "Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole."  Christ  said 
of  the  woman  with  the  box  of  ointment,  "Her  sins,  which 
are  many,  are  forgiven;  for  she  loved  much."  Some  mur- 
mered  at  that.  Then  "He  said  to  the  woman.  Thy  faith 
hath  saved  thee."  There  you  see  is  a  direct  statement  in 
Luke,  from  Christ's  own  lips  of  the  necessity  of  a  faith  in 
him.  Read  it  in  Luke  7:36-50.  In  Luke  18:42  he  said  to 
a  blind  man,  "  Receive  thy  sight:  thy  faith  hath  saved 
thee."  And  he  glorified  God.  "And  all  the  people,  when 
they  saw  it,  gave  praise  unto  God."  How?  Through 
their  faith,  of  course.  The  Apostles  were  prayed  for  by 
the  Savior,  that  their  faith  fail  not. 


(12) 


4 


I 


) 


Luke  wrote  the  book  of  Acts,  and  you  read  Acts  13:45- 
48.  The  Jews  disbelieved  the  gospel  you  see  and  so 
remained  in  their  sins.  The  Jews  being  the  chosen  peo- 
ple of  the  Lord  it  was  necessary  to  first  give  the  gospel  to 
them;  but  they,  as  it  was  said  to  them,  judged  them- 
selves unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  audio,  they  "turned 
to  the  Gentiles."  When  the  Gentiles  heard  that  re- 
demption was  for  them  also  "they  were  glad,  and 
glorified  the  word  of  the  Lord ;  and  as  many  as  were 
ordained  to  eternal  life  believed."  Notice  now,  eternal 
life  came  to  the  Gentiles  by  faith  in  Christ.  See? 
They  believed.  All  who  believed  were  ordained  to 
eternal  life.  No  case  is  given  in  the  Bible  of  an  un- 
believer ever  being  ordained  to  eternal  life.  In  rehears- 
ing what  God  had  done,  it  was  there  told  "how  he  had 
opened  the  door  of  faith  to  the  Gentiles." 

In  Matthew  9:2,  a  palsied  man  was  taken  to  the 
Savior,  and  Jesus  seeing  their  faith  said,  "Son,  be  of  good 
cheer;  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee."  In  Luke,  24:25,  Christ 
reproved  unbelief  thus,  "O  fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to 
believe  all  that  the  Prophets  have  spoken."  Matthew, 
Mark  and  Luke  all  tell  us  of  Christ  having  said,  "O 
faithless  and  perverse  generation  !  how  long  shall  I  suffer 
you?"  And  all  this,  understand,  to  prove  the  falsity  of 
IngersolPs  statement  regarding  regeneration  and  salvation 
by  faith.  And  yet  Ingersoll  calls  himself  an  honest  man ; 
but  if  he  is  honest  he  has  show^ed  himself  devoid  of  common 
sense  in  this  matter.  "From  the  temple  of  morality  and 
truth,  the  parasitic  and  poisonous  vines  of  faith  must  be 
be  torn  ?  " 

P'aith  is  a  necessary  element  in  temporal  life.  Era- 
dicate that  element  from  our  scientists'  lives  and  what 
would  become  of  the  science,   which   Ingersoll  says  in  a 


(13) 


/' 


later  writing,  can  be  the  only  possible  Savior  of  this  world? 
Eradicate  that  element  from   the   human   mind   and   the 
science  of  Geology  would  no  longer  unearth  the  mysteries 
of  our  own  planet;  the  mighty  heavens,  in  their  sublimity, 
would  no  longer  be  penetrated  by  the  anxiously  searching 
eye  of  the  astronomer  ;  without  it  Cyrus  W.   Field  would 
not  have  labored  year  after  year  for  the  construction  of  the 
Atlantic  cable,  against  mountainous  obstacles  and  the  buf- 
fetting  of  all  the  world.     Samuel  Morse's  preconceived  idea 
of  telegraph}'  the  world  held  in  contempt,  considering  it  as 
only  a  whimsical  vision  of  a  fanatic.     Had  not  the  world 
moved  on  to  a  faith   in  telegraphy  it   never  would   have 
been  used.     The  same  may  be  said  of  all  useful  inventions 
and     discoveries.        Had     that     mighty     element    been 
expunged   from  the  life  of  Samuel  Morse  he  never  would 
have  constructed  that  apparatus  whose  little  click  grasps 
the  thoughts  of  man,  as  they  are  poured  off  the  finger  tips 
of  the  operator,  and  made  to  traverse  land  and  sea  with 
speed  of  the  lightning's  flash  ! 

Speaking  from  a  temporal  standpoint:  exterminate  all 
faith  from  the  mind  of  man,  and  you  rob  him  of  his  health, 
you  rob  him  of  his  mind,  you  rob  him  of  all  hope  and  you 
rob  him  of  his  life  !  Deprive  humanity  of  faith  and  in  less 
than  three  seconds  every  heart  will  cease  to  beat,  every 
breast  will  have  heaved  its  last  sigh.  In  less  than  three 
seconds  every  countenance  will  drop,  the  last  agonizing 
groan  will  be  forced  into  expression  by  an  unutterable  des- 
pair, and  the  human  race  will  be  extinct. 

Look  again,  dear  reader,  at  Ingersoll's  statement, 
''  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke  say  nothing  about  the  atone- 
ment and  the  scheme  of  salvation  by  faith  ;  in  the  book  of 
John  all  these  doctrines  find  their  warrant  ;  nowhere 
else."  Has  it  not  become  evident  by  this  time  that  his 
object  in  searching  the  scriptures  is  not  to  get  at  the  truth 

(14; 


^ 


4 


-^' 


) 


I 


of  what  they  say?  Let  us  look  a  little  further  :  John  the 
Baptist  was  the  forerunner  of  Christ.  The  Prophets  fore- 
told it :  Christ  recognized  him  as  such,  ''  And  John,"  ac- 
cording to  all  three,  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke,  ''  did  bap- 
tise, and  preach  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission 
of  sins."  Did  they  not  confess  and  repent  through  faith? 
Is  not  real  repentance  conversion?  And  John  ''Preached, 
saying,  there  cometh  one  mightier  than  I  after  me,  the 
latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  stoop  down  and 
unloose.  I  indeed  baptise  you  with  water;  but  he  shall 
baptise  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  "  Can  you  find  a  script- 
ural testimony  that  anybody  ever  was  or  can  be  baptised 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  while  remaining  in  unbelief?  Is  not 
that  regeneration? 

After  John  was  in  prison  Christ  began  to  preach,  say- 
ing, ^'Repent  ye,  and  believe  the  gospel."  What  for? 
To  secure  their  salvation  of  course. 

There  is  a  passage  in  Mark,  on  this  subject,  stated 
so  plainly  that  even  Ingersoll  could  not  mistake  its  mean- 
ing, and  so  he  calls  it  an  interpolation.  It  is  this:  "He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptised  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  Whatever  is  found  in 
proof  of  the  atonement,  against  unbelief,  and  in  favor  of 
the  miraculous,  Ingersoll  pretends  to  believe  are  interpola- 
tions. Robert  can  crawl  through  a  very  small  hole  if  he  is 
a  large  man. 

S^e  now  what  Christ  says  in  Luke  8:11-12,  while  ex- 
plaining the  parable  of  the  sower:  ''The  seed  is  the  word 
of  God.  Those  by  the  wayside,  are  they  that  hear;  then 
cometh  the  devil,  and  taketh  away  the  word  out  of  their 
hearts,  lest  they  should  believe  and  be  saved."  Notice 
now  how  saving  faith  comes  in  there:  "Lest  they  should 
believe  and  be  saved." 


(15) 


Ingersoll  quotes  Christ's  interview  with  the  rich  young 
ruler  as  proof  against  a  need  of  faith.  Among  other 
things  he  says  that  Christ  '*did  not  say  to  him,  'You  must 
remember  the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy/  ''  What  were 
the  first  words  of  the  Savior  to  him?  "Keep  the  com- 
mandments." Read  them  and  see  whether  Christ  told  him 
to  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy."  He 
also  says,  "he  did  not  say,  'You  must  believe  in  me — you 
must  be  born  again — you  nmst  believe  the  Bible.'  "  Why 
should  he?  The  act  of  coming  to  Christ  as  he  did  and 
addressing  him  as  he  did  was  a  perfect  acknowledgment 
that  those  things  were  needful.  His  testimony  was,  "I 
have  kept  these  commandments."  Christ  saw  the  one 
thing  that  stood  between  him  and  his  Creator;  and  the 
young  man  very  well  knew  that  that  was  where  the  trouble 
lay,  for  "he  went  away  feeling  sorrowful"  and  rejected 
Christ  for  what  there  is  without  him.  It  is  the  last  we 
hear  of  that  rich  gentleman.  Now  there  are  thousands 
who  testify  that  as  soon  as  they  gave  up  their  pet  sin,  or 
worldly  idol,  they  immediately  received  the  conscious 
evidence  of  sins  for«:iven. 

Here  is  a  fact  worth  noticing :  Christ  never  said  to  an 
unbeliever,  "Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee;  thy  faith  hath 
made  thee  whole;  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee  "  nor  anything 
to  that  effect. 


/ 


\ 


4 


CHAPTER   II. 


FAITH  OR  BELIEVING. 


Interpolation.— Love  Giver  More  than  Gift.— Catholic  Slaughterings, 
Object  of.— Sermon  on  Mount.— Predestination.— Zaccheus.— 
Crucifixion  of  Thieves. 


(i6) 


Next  Mr.  Ingersoll  quotes  another  verse  and  says  he 
believes  it  to  be  an  interpolation  :  "  And  every  one  that 
hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or 
mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my  name's  sake, 
shall  receive  an  hundred  fold,  and  shall  inherit  everlasting 
life.  "  Then  he  comments  thus  :  "  Why,  he  said  to  this 
man  that  asked  him,  '  What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal 
life  ? '  Among  other  things,  he  said :  *  Honor  thy  father, 
and  thy  mother . '  And  we  turn  over  the  page  and  he  says 
again,  '  If  you  will  desert  your  father  and  mother  you  shall 
have  everlasting  life.  '  '  It  will  not  do.  »  "  No  honest 
man  using  his  senses,  can  say,  "  Honor  them;  "  and  then 
say,  "  Dishonor  them.  "  Christ  saw  James  and  John,  with 
Zebedee  their  father  and  called  them  to  follow  him.  They 
left  their  father  to  follow  Christ;  but  that  is  not  saying 
that  they  deserted  him,  by  way  of  contempt  and  abuse; 

(17) 


nor  there  is  not  such  a  thing  advised  even  in  this  passage 
that  Mr  Ingersoll  calls  an  interpolation.  Robert  Ingersoll 
very  well  knows  that  many,  for  having  turned  from  a  life 
of  all  sorts  of  wickedness;  have  been  obliged  to  leave  home 
and  friends  or  return  to  their  profligacy,  and  deny  even 
the  good  that  he  himself  preaches. 

Many  have  been  turned  from  the  house  of  their  friends 
and  wilfully  despised  and  deserted,  because  of  their  right- 
eous life,  but  rather  than  give  up  the  good  way   that  has 
brought  to  them  the  sweetness  of  God's  love  and  redeem- 
ing  grace  they  have  gone  from  home  and  friends  to  be  dis- 
owned and  despised  by   the  ones  they  loved.     Yet  they 
would  not  leave  in  envy  and  spite;  but  in  kindness  and 
love,  earnestly  praying  and  working  for  the  good  of  their 
persecutors.     Who  will  say  that  they  have  not  done  right 
and  accomplished  much  more  good  than  they  could  other- 
wise have  done;  and  that  it  did  not  take  much  more  cour- 
age, and  a  far  greater  love  so  to  do  ?     Is  there  not  a  vast 
difference  in  spiteful  desertion  and  a  necessary  leaving  ? 

Here  is  a  newly  married  couple.     They  step  out  by 
tJiemselves,  forsaking  home  and  all  the  friends.     Do  they 
do  wrong  ?     Is  it  not  right  that  he  should  think  more  of 
his  wife  than  of  father,  mother,  brothers  or  sisters  ?     Is  it 
not  right  that  she  should  think   more  of  her  husband  than 
of  father,  mother,  brothers  or  sisters  ?     Before  leaving  do 
they  not  plant  the  kiss  of  endearing  friendship  upon  the  lips 
of  the  loved  ones  at  home  ?     Yet  they  do   not  improperly 
forsake  the  same  with  all   its  attractions.     Whatever  fool- 
ish things  they  may  have  said  in  the  past  about  Retting 
away  from  home  are  generally  corrected   then.     Then  it 
is  that  they  begin  to  form  a  realization  of  what  it  is  to  have 
a  home  supplied  by  father  and  mother,  where  all  may  live 
and  love  together.    Their  love  and  interest,  then,  for  their 
friends  is  not  lessened,  by  loving  another  supremely,  but  in- 

ri8) 


I 


creased .  And  the  same  must  be  said  with  reference  to  the  pass- 
ages that  Ingersoll  has  tried  to  make  out  as  contradictory. 
He  says,  ''  I  will  never  desert  the  one  I  love  for  the 
promise  of  any  God.  ''     Little  does  he  know  just  what  he 
might  do  if  he  were  to  let  the  beautiful  love  of  the  redeeming 
Lord  into  his  soul,  and  then  have  the  one  he  loves  turn 
him  a  cold  shoulder,  and  despise  and  reject  him,  because 
he  would  not  worship  Roman  images,  pray  to  the  Virgin 
Mary  and  the  so-called  Roman  Saints;  confess  his  sins  to 
the  Roman  Priest,  proclaim   the  supremacy  of  the  Pope, 
and  acknowledge  the  priesthood  on  a  par  with  God.     Lit- 
tle does  he  know  what  he  might  do  if  he  were  filled  with 
a  wonderous  love  he  never  knew  before  and  then  be  de- 
spised and  rejected  by  the  one  he  loved  because  he  would 
not  permit  his  daughters  to  become  entangled  and  soaked 
in  the  animal  passions  of  Roman  Priests;  or  to  use  his 
own  words,  ''  To  take  the  veil  and  renounce  the  joys  and 
beauties  of  this  life,  and  allowing  these  spider-like  Priests 
to  weave  webs  to  catch  the  loving  maidens  of  the  world.  " 
He  also  says,  **  It  is  far  more  important  to  love  your 
wife  than  to  love  God.  ''     That  is  like  saying  that  it  is 
more  important  for  the  children  to  love  the  things  sup- 
plied,  by  father  and  mother,  for  their  amusement  and  com- 
fort than  to  love  father  and  mother.     The  more  we  love 
a  person  the  more  will  we  love  a  gift  from  that  person,  and 
if  Mr.  Ingersoll  knew  what  it  was  to  love  God  he  would 
know   a  thousand  times   sweeter  love  for  his  God-given 
helpmeet.     I  wonder  what  he  would  think  to  know  that 
his  family,  which  he  loves  and  provides  for,  cared  noth- 
mg  for  him,  but  all  they  cared  for  was  what  the  contents 
of  his  pocket-book  supplied? 

From  what  source  does  he  receive  the  ability  of  loving 
and  enjoying  wife  and  friends?  He  might  say  that  that 
ability  is  implanted  in  him  by  nature.     What  is  nature  ? 

ri9) 


I 

i 


Did  not  a  good  God  implant  that  ability  within  him  ? 
Where  did  he  get  a  good  wife  to  hdp  make  a  man  of  him, 
and  to  become  a  powerful  factor  in  making  him  feel  that 
he  has  something  to  live  for?  Is  not  she,  who  is  heaven's 
best  earthly  gift  to  man,  supplied  him  by  a  good  God,  by 
the  creative  genius  of  the  Almighty  ? 

He  further  adds,  ''  The  holiest  altar  in  all  the  world 
is  the  fireside  around  which  gather  father  and  mother  and 
the  sweet  babes.  "  Good !  as  far  as  it  goes;  but  his  wo^ds 
all  amount  to  this  :  revel  in  the  gift  but  forget  the  giver  ! 
That  is  all  wrong.  It  is  important,  and  it  is  for  our  good 
here,  that  we  love  God,  the  giver  of  every  good  gift,  far 
above  what  we  love  the  gift,  and  if  Ingersoll  would  only 
learn  to  do  that  he  would  find  himself  enjoying  a  love  for 
these  good  gifts  a  thousand  times  grander  and  sweeter  than 
he  ever  knew  before,  or  than  it  is  possible  to  know  in  any 
other  way. 

Many  a  person  when  they  would  not  admit  the  love  of 
God  into  their  hearts,  have  been  carried,  beyond  their  con- 
trol, into  degredation  and  debauchery,  leaving  family  in 
loathsome  dens  with  empty  closets,  and  empty  flour  barrels, 
and  empty  sheds,  while  they  revel  in  drunken  debaucher)) 
and  ludeness,  and  often  in  robbery  and  murder;  but 
whenever  such  persons  have  opened  their  hearts  to  receive 
the  Savior's  love,  they  have  been  regenerated,  and  lifted 
from  degeneracy  and  brutality  to  manhood  and  truth; 
and  wretched  homes  of  want  and  despair  have  been  turned 
to  homes  of  happiness  and  plenty.  Ho)k?  Through 
faith.  (1%^ 

When  Mr.  Ingersoll  makes  all  these  statements,  to- 
gether with  the  following,  **  It  is  far  more  important  that 
you  love  your  children  than  that  you  love  Jesus  Christ,  " 
he  is  not  honestly  presenting  this  matter.  The  truth' is 
this:   parents   cannot  really  love  the    Lord  Jesus   Christ 


\ 


^ 


without  loving  their  children  far  better  than  they  possibly 
could  if  they  did  not  love  Christ.  The  more  we  love  God 
the  better  we  love  our  friends  and  fellow-men,  and  by  lov- 
ing him  there  is  a  sanctity  and  purity  and  sweetening  in- 
fluence in  our  life  that  could  not  otherwise  be  there. 

Another  statement  of  his  :  **  This  frightful  declara- 
tion, *  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptised  shall  be  saved; 
but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned,  *  has  filled  the 
world  with  agony  and  crime.  Every  letter  of  this  passage 
has  been  sword  and  fagot;  every  word  has  been  dungeon 
and  chain.  That  passage  made  the  sword  of  persecution 
drip  with  innocent  blood  through  centuries  of  agony  and 
crime.  That  passage  made  the  horizon  of  a  thousand 
years  lurid  with  the  fagot's  flames;  ''  (this  he  says  refer- 
ring to  Catholic  slaughterings)  thus:  **  thousands  of  vol- 
umes could  not  contain  the  crimes  of  the  Catholic  church. 
They  could  not  contain  even  the  names  of  her  victims. 
With  sword  and  fire,  with  rack  and  chain,  with  dungeon 
and  whip  she  endeavored  to  convert  the  world.  "  Do  you 
see  his  idea?  He  would  have  us  understand  that  the 
Catholic  church  took  that  way  to  convert  the  world  to 
Christ;  but  such  is  not  the  case.  Such  crimes  were  not 
resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  converting  the  world  to 
Christianity;  but  as  a  means  whereby  they  hoped  to  com- 
pel the  world,  to  come  like  working  oxen,  under  the  Ro- 
man yoke  that  they  might — convert  the  world  to  Christ 
and  make  good  men  and  women  of  them  ?  No;  but  that 
the  world  might  be  converted  to  the  slavery  and  servitude 
of  cruel  politicians,  whose  right  name  is  despot;  and  a 
beastly  hypocritical  organization,  that  called  itself  a 
church,  whose  right  name  is  *'  Whited  Sepulchre. ''  Then 
you  see  it  is  not  that  passage,  **  He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized  shall  be  saved;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned,  '^  that  has  caused  the  agony  and  crime  of  which 


\ 


( 


he  speaks.  That  passage  never  led  people  to  commit 
crime;  but  it  has  saved  many  from  it.  It  is  not  that  pas- 
sage that  has  caused  the  Catholic  church  to  use  ''  sword 
and  fire,  rack  and  chain,  dungeon  and  whip  to  convert  the 
world;  "  it  was  the  despotic  ambition  of  corrupt  and 
oppressing  politicians  coupled  with  the  influence  of  a 
church  governor  whose  hypocrisy  knew  no  bounds— 
whom  the  prophecies  call  a  beast— that  used  those  means, 
not  to  convert  the  world  to  Christianity;  but  to  convert 
the  world  to  their  own  greedy  selves.  Ingersoll  himself 
virtually  acknowledges  this,  thus  tearing  to  pieces  his  own 
infamous  declaration  regarding  ^*that  passage.  »'  Read 
what  he  says  and  see  if  you  do  not  agree  with  me  :  '*  That 
church  went  in  partnership  with  the  tyrants  of  the  throne, 
and  between  these  two  vultures,  the  altar  and  the  throne, 
the  heart  of  man  was  devoured.  '' 

Ingersoll  undertakes  to  show  by  his  lecture  that  it  is 
Christianity  that  causes  crime;  but  nothing  could  be  more 
absurd,  it  is  the  lack  of  Christianity,   whether  it  be  com- 
mitted by  an  infidel  or  a  church  member.     It  is  not  as  he 
talks,  faith   in  Christ  or  Christianity,   that  lures  men  to 
cruel  exercise  of   power,  or  that  causes  trouble  of  soul,  or 
distress  of  mind;  but  a  lack  of  faith,  a  lack  of  Christianity. 
He  also  says  of  that  passage,  ''it  contradicts  the  sermon 
on  the  mount.  "     Just  read  Christ's  sermon  on  the  mount 
and  see  for  yourself.    Notice  particularly  from  the  21st  verse 
of  the  last  chapter  of  the  sermon  :     ' '  Not  every  one  that 
saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,   shall  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.     '*  Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day.  Lord, 
Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name ;  and  in  thy 
name  cast  out  devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  done  many  won- 
derful works?     ''And  then  shall   I  confess  unto  them,  I 
never  knew  you  :  depart    from  me  ye  that  work  iniquity. 

(22) 


> 


( 


< 


I 


"  Therefore  whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and 
doeth  them,  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise  man,  which 
built  his  house  upon  a  rock.  "  And  the  rains  descended, 
and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew  and  beat  upon 
that  house;  and  it  fell  not:  for  it  was  founded  upnii  a 
rock.  "  Who  will  presume  to  say  that  people  will  do  these 
things  if  they  do  not  believe?  And  Christ  said  it  was 
necessary  to  do  them.  • 

But  read  now  what  becomes  of  the  unbeliever : 
"  Everyone  that  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doeth 
them  not,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man,  which  built 
his  house  upon  the  sand  :  "  And  the  rains  descended,  and 
the  floods  came,  and  beat  upon  that  house;  and  it  fell : 
and  great  was  the  fall  of  it.  "  Why?  It  was  founded 
upon  the  sand.  They  believed  not  on  Christ.  A  life 
founded  upon  riches,  honors,  pleasures,  immorality,  and 
dishonesty;  and  things  outside  the  gospel  of  Christ,  is  on 
sinking  sand. 

Ingersoll  says,  "  No  man  can  control  his  belief.  »'  I 
repeat  a  former  statement :  "No  man  can  try  to  live  by 
the  Bible  and  be  an  unbeliever.  Men  may  educajteJJiem=_ 
pelves  to  infidelity-^  and  yet  something  will  tell  them  "  You 
are  going  wrong,  you  are  making  your  bed  in  hell.  *>  He 
says,  "  You  cannot  believe  as  you  wish.  You  must  be- 
lieve as  you  must.  "  This  is  not  wholly  true:  people 
cannot  wish  to  believe  in  the  Bible  and  be  unbelievers. 
But  see!  "You  cannot  believe  as  you  wish,  you  must 
believe  as  you  must.  '  What !  predestination  ?  You  see 
he  comes  around  with  what  he  calls  intelligence  and  un- 
consciously preaches  predestination,  a  doctrine  he 
vehemently  denies,  in  other  places,  that  it  seems 
though  he  could  not  think  of  words  of  condemnation  strong 


o 


so 
as 


7 


■^ 


Then  he  calls  up  Christ's  interview  with  Zaccheus  as 
evidence  against  the  idea  of  salvation  by  faith  in  Bible 
doctrines.     He  quotes  the  following:     **  And  Zaccheus 
stood  and  said  unto   the  Lord,  ''  Behold,  the  half  of  my 
goods  I  give  to  the  poor,   and  if  I  have  taken  anything 
from  any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  will  restore  him  four- 
fold?^'     ^*And  Jesus  said  unto  him,   *  This  day  is  sal- 
vation come  to  thy  house?"     He  of  course  admits  that 
**that    is   good    doctrine,''   and  says,  ''He    did  not  ask 
Zaccheus  what  he  believed,  he  did  not  ask  him,   'Do  you 
believe   in    the  Bible?'  "   or  "  Have  you  ever  been  bap- 
tised ?  '  "    And  that  is  IngersolPs  reasoning.    Why  should 
he  have  asked  such  questions  !     When  a  couple  present 
themselves  to  the  minister  to  be  married  what  sense  would 
there  be  in  asking  them,  "  Do  you  believe  in  getting  mar- 
ried?''    John  the  Baptist,  the  forerunner  of  Christ,  had 
for  some   time  been   baptising  people   all   through  those 
parts,  publicans  included — Zaccheus  was  a  publicaur-and 
his  acceptance  of  Christ  was  evidence  of  his  having  been 
baptised  or  of  his  readiness  to  be,  and  also  of  his  belief  in 
the  Bible.     How  is  it  now?     When  people  really  accept 
of  Christ  are  they   not  ready  to  be  baptised?     So  it  was 
then.     And  do  they  not  believe  in  the  Bible  now?     So 
they  did  then.     Why  ask  a  man  with  a  lighted  cigar  in 
his  mouth,  do  you  smoke  ? 

The  last  sins  we  are  ready  to  let  go  of  are  our  idols, 
our  pet  sins.  Zaccheus  was  a  publican,  a  tax  collector, 
who  collected  much  more  tax  than  the  law  called  for,  and 
used  the  surplus  to  line  his  own  pockets.  He  was  such  a 
lover  of  money  that  he  was  going  to  have  it  no  matter  how 
he  got  it.  Now  can  any  sane  and  honest  man  say  that 
Zaccheus  complied  with  the  requirements  of  Christ  and 
the  Bible  without  believing  in  them  ?  Allow  me  to  re- 
peat :  Jesus  Christ  never  said  to  an  unbeliever,  "  Salva- 

(24) 


i 


> 


} 


tion  has  come  to  thy  house,  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee,  thy 
faith  hath  made  thee  whole,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,"  or 
anything  to  that  effect. 

Ingersoll,  speaking  of  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  and 
the  two  thieves,  says:  "In  Luke  we  are  told  that  one 
railed  on  him,  but  one  of  the  thieves  looked  and  pitied 
Christ,  and  Christ  said  to  that  thief,  '  To-day  shalt  thou 
be  with  me  in  paradise.'  "  "  Why  did  he  say  that?"  he 
asks,  and  answers  "Because  the  thief  pitied  him."  Luke 
does  not  say  that  this  thief  "looked  and  pitied  Christ :" 

Then  he  asks   some  questions  about   this  thief  and 
answers  them  to  fit  his  argument,  not  in  accordance  with 
honesty.     ' '  Who  was  this  thief  ?     To  what  church  did  he 
belong?     I  do  not  know"  he  answers,   and  adds,    "  The 
fact  that  he  was  a  thief,  throws  no  light  on  that  question." 
This  latter  statement  is  a  misrepresentation  of  the  script- 
ures.    When  people  mentioned  in  the  Bible,   who  were 
called  the  children  of  God,  indulged  in  sin,  the  Bible  was 
honest,  free  to  divulge  the  bad  as  well  as  the  good,  and 
never  tried  to  hide  the  wrong  as  Ingersoll  here  tries  to 
make  out,  and  this  fact  is  powerful  evidence  in  favor  of 
the  scriptures.     He  further  asks,  "What  did  he  believe?" 
and  answers,  "  I  do  not  know."     "  Did  he  believe  in  the 
Old  Testament  ?     In  the  miracles?"  and  replies,    "  I  do 
not  know. "     "Did  he  believe  that  Christ  was  God ? ' '  and 
declares,  "  I  do  not  know."     If  we  can  show  that  he  be- 
lieved that  Christ  was  God  then  we  have  positive  evidence 
that  he  believed  in  the  miracles  and  in  the  Old  Testament, 
and  have  answered  affirmatively,  these  questions  concern- 
ing his  belief.      If  that  thief  had  not  believed  in    those 
things,   he  would  not  have   called   Christ    "Lord"    and 
begged  just  in  his  dying  moments,   to  be  remembered  in 
his  kingdom,  when  he  had  been  an  enemy  to  the  teachings 
of  Christ  all  his  life.     But  that  was  not  all,    that   thief 

(25; 


went  so  far  as  to  plainly  and  stoutly  declare  that  Christ 
was  God.  Read  it  for  yourself  in  Luke  23:40-42,  *'But 
the  other  answering,  rebuked  him,  saying  dost  not  thou 
fear  God,  seeing  thou  art  in  the  same  condemnation?^' 
— Christ  was  then  nailed  to  the  Cross — *' And  we  indeed 

Mustly,  for  we  receive  the  due  reward   of  our  deeds  :  but 

I 

this  man  hath  done  nothing  amiss.  And  he  said  unto 
Jesus  '  Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy 
kingdom.'  "  And  yet  Mr.  Ingergoll  says  he  don't  know 
what  this  thief  believed,  whether  he  believed  that  Christ 
was  God  or  not.  What  intelligence  that  is  !  Hut  this  be- 
ing only  a  specimen  of  the  way  he  read  and  treated  the 
New  Testament  at  the  time  he  made  up  his  mind  to  read 
it  to  find  out  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved,  it  cannot  be 
wondered  at  that  he  did  not  get  saved. 

Now  notice,  he  asks,  "  Why  then  was  the  promise 
made  to  that  thief  that  he  should  meet  Christ  in  paradise?" 
and  his  answer  is,  "Simply  because  he  pitied  suffering 
innocence  upon  the  cross."  Not  so  !  It  was  because  he 
followed  the  light  of  reason  and  of  conscience,  and  be- 
lieved and  repented. 


> 


\ 


i 


> 


/ 


) 


CHAPTER  III. 


BEUEVING   WITHOUT   UNDERSTANDING. 


Ingersoll    Uses    Arguments    that    Prove    the    Things    He    Tries    to 
Argue  Against. — Inspiration. — Discovery  of  Truth. 


,26) 


Ingersoll  has  a  good  deal  of  fault  to  find  because  we 
believe  what  is  beyond  our  power  to  comprehend.  **  Be- 
lieving something"  he  says,  ''that you  do  not  understand: 
Of  course  God  cannot  afford  to  reward  a  man  for  believing 
anything  that  is  reasonable.  God  rewards  only  for  be- 
lieving something  that  is  unreasonable.  If  you  believe 
something  that  is  improbable  and  unreasonable,  you  are  a 
Christian,  but  if  you  believe  something  that  you  know  is 
not  so,  then — you  are  a  saint."  He  says,  '' In  a  little 
>)vrhile  the  few  more  intelligent  will  be  driven  out  of  the 
church,  and  it  will  be  governed  by  those  who  believe 
without  understanding."  There  are  many  ''improbable 
and  unreasonable"  things  which  he  claims  to  believe, 
things  which  he  knows  are  not  so ;  but  pretends  to  believe, 
like  the  loving  wife  and  children,  working  in  heaven  in 
cold,  hunger,  poverty  and  dirt  (a  good  account  of  this  will 
be    found    in    chapter    10)    over   their   drunken    besotted 

(27y 


i: 


father  and  husband,  heaven  being,  as  he  says,  ''Where 
those  are  we  love,  and  those  who  love  us."  So  if  we  are  only 
with  those  we  love,  with  one  arm  going  through  a  thresh- 
ing machine  we  are  in  heaven  ;  he  knows  it  is  not  so  but 
he  believes  it,  so  of  course  he  is  a  saint.  If  you  are  only 
with  those  you  love,  and  those  who  love  you,  you  may  be 
suffering  with  every  joint  puffed  up  with  inflammatory 
rheumatism  so  that  the  jar  made  by  a  careless  walking 
across  the  floor,  strikes  a  dozen  daggers  through  you,  you 
are  in  heaven  bear  in  mind  :  he  knows  it  is  not  so  but  of 
course  he  wants  to  be  a  saint  so  he  believes  it.  You 
know  "  God  rewards  only  for  believing  something  that  is 
unreasonable  "  or  "  that  you  know  is  not  so.'* 

''  Believing  something  that  you  do  not  understand  ?'* 
I  wonder  how  much  he  understands  of  what  he  believes. 
We  live,  we  move,  we  have  our  being.  Let  wise  Bob. 
Ingersoll  tell  us  how.  Let  him  reveal  the  secret,  the 
power  and  the  principle,  to  scientists  that  have  been 
vaguely,  but  earnestly  searching  for  it  from  time  imme- 
morial, and  for  his  information  his  jianie  will  be  immortal- 
ized. The  grass  grows  :  let  this  man  who  believes  only 
what  he  understands  kindly  speak  and  tell  us  how.  The 
vegetables  and  fruits  grow  to  maturity,  we  partake  of  them 
for  food,  they  are  converted  into  blood,  and  from  thence 
into  flesh,  bone,  gristle,  nerve,  etc.,  etc.:  let  this  wise 
man  of  the  nineteenth  century,  who  believes  only  what  he 
understands,  speak  and  tells  us  how. 

The  fact  is  he  has  been  cuffed  about  from  one  roost  to 
another  until  he  is  just  done  up.  He  has  never  got  on  to 
any  perch  yet  but  has  let  him  down  coflunk.  He  is  just 
like  the  devil ;  cuff  him  off  from  one  hobby  horse  and  if 
he  can't  sneak  around  the  other  side  and  jump  back  onto 
the  same  one  he  will  hop  right  on  to  another.  He  is  worse 
than  the  devil,  for  he  does  not  think  of  denying  the  divine 

(28; 


4 


I 


/ 


'f 


m 


authority  of  the  Bible.  I  fail  to  find  words  to  express 
myself  when  I  think  of  this  man  who  calls  himself  a  moral, 
intelligent  and  logical  rcasoner,  bringing  himself  so  low  in 
the  scale  of  morality,  intelligence  and  decency,  as  to  im- 
pose upon  rational  beings  with  such  a  satanic,  idiotic,  impu- 
dent requisition  as  that  we  believe  only  what  we  can  under- 
stand. Dear  reader,  I  am  not  jesting.  I  speak  with  solem-  /^  ^^ 
nity  and  with  reverence.  I  pity  the  man  who  is  so  beastly  ,  ^^W 
stubborn  as  not  to  give  way  to   reason  and  to  conscience  ^^"^  <4-^ 

an  find  no  better'^^^M.ip^ 
argument  than  telling  us  to  believe  only  what  we  can  un-  V*^L^ 
derstand,  which,  in  reality  is  no  argument.  As  true  as  l^!/^ 
pen  these  words,  I  never  was  filled  wdth  so  powerful  a  faith  .  ^^^ 
in  God  and  the  Bible  as  while  subjecting  these  sayings  of  ^^^^H^ 
Ingersoll's  to  a  critical   analysis.      Convince   me  that  the  ^y 

Bible  is  false  and  I  will  renounce  it  at  once ;  but  every- 
thing goes  to  show  that  it  is  true. 

Be  honest  with  yourself  dear  reader.  Look  the 
ground  over  intelligently  and  conscientiously  and  see  if  it 
would  not  require  much  more  faith  to  believe  these  things 
that  Ingersoll  says  than  it  does  to  believe  the  Bible.  When 
he  pretends  to  think  that  he  believes  only  what  he  under- 
stands, it  is  himself,  not  the  church,  who  believes  what  he 
knows  is  not  so. 

If  we  did  not  believe  in  only  what  we  understand,  we 
would  believe  in  neither  pain  nor  sorrow  ;  anger  nor  calm- 
ness ;  joy  nor  bereavement ;  the  sweetness  of  love  nor  the 
bitterness  of  hatred  ;  in  life  nor  in  death.  We  would  not 
believe  in  our  own  existence.  Let  the  world  set  about  the 
task  of  understanding  many  things  that  we  are  obliged  to 
believe  and  in  less  than  one  week  every  human  being  on 
earth  would  be  a  maniac  or  a  fool. 

In  the  New  York  Journal  of  February  19,  1897,  ^ 
noticed  about  two  common  colunms  of  what   agnosticism 

(29) 


t(5 


.\ 


seems  well  pleased  to  call  common-sense.  He  says  there 
that  ''The  Dr.  Halls,  Talmages  and  Moodys ;  Bishop 
Doanes  and  Corrigans  all  love  the  absurd  and  glory  in  be- 
lieving the  impossible."  We  have  already  seen  that  ''be- 
lieving the  impossible  "  and  loving  the  greatest  absurd- 
ities all  rest  upon  himself  unless  he  does  not  believe  what 
he  says  he  does  ;  but  we  will  see  more  of  it  yet. 

In  that  paper  he  said,  "Use  your  senses.  Ministers, 
preachers,  open  your  eyes,  read  your  New  Testament  and 
think  when  you  read.  In  a  few  years,"  he  declared, 
"  the  intelligent  will  deny  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible.'* 

We  have  seen  how  Mr.  Ingersoll  has  used  his  senses — 
orratherhis  nonsenses — when  reading  the  Testament.  We 
have  seen  how  he  opens  his  eyes,  not  to  conscience,  jus- 
tice, and  reason  ;  but  to  injustice  and  foolishness,  and  we 
will  see  it  more  yet.  Put  one  drop  of  stagnant  water 
under  a  powerful  microscope,  and  what  a  sight  will  you 
behold  !  And  so  when  we  put  IngersolPs  sayings  under 
the  microscope  of  common-sense  we  find  them  literally 
teeming  with  obnoxious  contradictions,  dominated  by  the 
hydra- headed  monsters  of  infidelity,  dishonest  arguments 
and  inconsistencies. 

A  strong  argument  against  Ingersollism  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  he  works  around  and  unconsciously  and  unwit- 
tingly produces  arguments  that  prop  up  the  very  things 
which  he  aims  to  overthrow.  He  wants  us  to  believe 
only  what  we  understand  and  to  "  deny  the  inspiration  of 
the  Bible."  Now,  if  Robert  Ingersoll  understands  all  he 
believes,  he  is  inspired  above  anything  that  was  ever 
claimed  for  any  Bible  character.  He  quotes  the  promise 
that  if  we  forgive  our  fellow-men  God  will  forgive  us,  and 
says,  "  I  accept  the  condition.  There  "  he  says,  "  is  an 
offer, ' '  and  responds,  ' '  I  accept  it. "  And  then  he  repeats, 
"  If  you  will  forgive  men  that  trespass  against  you,  God 

'30) 


> 


> 


♦^ 


will  forgive  your  trespasses  against  him.     "There"   he 
says,  "  isa  contract,  a  square  promise,"  and  answers,  "  I 
accept  the  terms."     Where  did  this  grand   and  infinite 
offer  and  promise  come  from?     It  came  from  God,  for  the 
promise  is,   God  will  forgive    us.      How   did    we  get    it  ? 
Through  Jesus  Christ  who  gave  himself  for  us.     So  when 
Ingersoll  accepts  that  offer  he  is  acknowledging  and  accept- 
ing, and  propping  up,  the  very  doctrines  he  aims  to  over- 
throw— the  Bible  as  an  inspired  word  ;  and   yet  in  that 
Journal  he  says  to  ministers,    "Use  your  senses,"    and 
"  throw  away  all  the  ravings  of  the  inspired  ;"  but  in  the 
lecture,  on  page  78,  he  has  very  prominently  brought  out 
inspiration   in    his   argument.       Here  is   what   he  says: 
"Here  is  a  woman  whose  husband  has  been  lost  at  sea ; 
the  news  comes  that  he  has  been  drowned  by  the  ever-hun- 
gry waves;  but  she  waits.     There  is  something  in   her 
heart  that  tells  her  he  is  alive,    and   she   waits."     Do  yon 
see  the  proof  of  inspiration  ?     With  perfect  confidence  she 
waits ;  because — she  receives  a  telegram  or  reads  in  the 
paper  that  he  was  rescued  ?      No.      Because — somebody 
tells  her  ?     No,  for  telegraphic  news  is  often  wrong,  and 
newspapers  often  make  mistakes  and   town-talk  is  so  un- 
certain ;  but  in  spite  of  all  wrangling  reports  that  may  be 
in  the  wind  she  knows  for  herself  and  in  a  way  that  she 
does  not  guess  at  it  nor  take  anybody's  word  for  it,  and 
she  defies  all  contrary  reports  ;  but  how  and  why  ?     Be- 
cause "  there  is  something  in  her  heart  that  tells  her." 
And   the  inspiration  proves  correct  for  he  says    "  years 
afterward  as  she  looks  down  toward  the  little  gate  she  sees 
him  ;  he  has  been  given  back  by  the  sea."     How  intelli- 
gent!     Denies  that  he  believes  in  inspiration  and  then 
uses  argument  that  proves  inspiration. 

You  see  it  is  just  impossible  for  professed  infidels  to 
get  along  and  not  give  themselves  away — reveal  their  be- 

(31) 


^4 


-»i»>'-'- 


^ 


lief  in  the   Bible  and  inspiration.      Ing:ersoll  says,    ''Back 
of  all  honest  creeds  was,    and   is,    a  desire    to    know,    to 
understand,  and  to  explain,  and  that  desire  will,  as  I  most 
fervently  hope  and  earnestly  believe,  be  |rratified  at  last  by 
the  discovery  of  the   truth."      If   In^ersoll   in   his    mad 
career  would  stop  and  investigate  his  arguments  he  would 
be  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  they  reveal  a  belief  in  in- 
spiration.    Jesus  Christ  is  the  truth,  the  life  and  the  way, 
and  it  is  impossible   for  one  to  believe   Ingersoll's  state- 
ment which  we  have  just  quoted,  without  believing  in  in- 
spiration.     What  is  he  arguing  on?     Theology.      That 
word,  truth,  then,  has  reference  to  the  origin  and  destiny 
of  man.     From  that  word  arrives  the  questions  how  did 
man  originate  and  whither  is  he  tending?      Has  man  a 
soul  and  will  he  exist  after  this  life,  and  if  so,  will  his  life 
here  affect  his  existence  in  the  world  to  come  and  how? 
Was  Jesus  Christ  both  man  and  God  and  if  we  are  saved 
must  it  be  through  him?     **  The  discovery  of  the  truth' ' 
concerning  these  things  is  wdiat  Ingersoll  has  reference  to 
in  that  statement,  because  those   were  the   things  that  he 
was  discussing  when  he  made  the  statement,   and  he  says 
he  earnestly  believes  that  man  will  yet  learn   the   facts  of 
these  important  questions,  so  taking  him  at  his  own  word 
he  is  a  firm  believer  in  inspiration,  because  the  ''  truth" 
of  which  he  speaks  could    never   be  made  known  to  the 
world  except  through  inspiration. 

In  the  New  York  Journal,  spoken  of  before,  he  speaks 
of  ''the  first  and  second  chapters  of  Genesis"  as  giving 
"two  contradictory  accounts  of  creation."  He  says, 
"  We  know  that  both  accounts  cannot  be  true  unless  they 
are  inspired,  and  no  man  can  believe  them  both  unless  he 
is  inspired."  Of  course  he  wants  to  make  himself  out 
an  inspired  man,  hence  his  object,  I  suppose,  of  giving  us 
his  two  contradictory  accounts  on  so  many  different  sub- 


N 


i 


( 


jects.  But  notice  his  common-sense  again.  The  idea 
that  inspiration  is  going  to  make  the  truth  out  of  a  lie,  or 
a  lie  out  of  the  truth  ! 

I  read  that  statement  "  We  know  that  in  the  first  and 
second  chapters  of  Genesis  there  are  two  contradictory 
accounts  of  creation"  and  thought  to  myself  I  will  see 
about  that,  whereupon  I  set  about  reading  them,  and 
found  Ingersoll  "  using  his  senses  "  just  the  same  as  usual. 
The  second  chapter,  instead  of  being  contradictory  to  the 
first,  I  find  is  merely  explanatory  of  the  first.  The  first 
chapter  tells  us  that  "  God  said,  let  the  earth  bring  forth 
grass  and  herb-yielding  seed,"  etc.  "And  the  earth 
brought  forth  grass  and  herb-yielding  seed  after  his  kind;" 
while  the  second  chapter  explains  that  jGod  caused  to  ap- 
pear in  the  earth  the  different  seeds  and  that  they  did  not 
grow  and  bear  the  plant  until  the  ground  had  been 
watered.  The  first  chapter  tells  us  that  God  made  man: 
the  second  chapter  explains  to  us  that  He  formed  him 
from  the  dust  of  the  ground,  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life  and  man  became  a  living  soul.  The  first 
chapter  tells  us  that  God  made  woman  :  the  second  chap- 
ter explains  to  us  that  He  caused  a  deep  sleep  to  fall  upon 
Adam,  took  a  rib  from  his  side  and  therefrom  created  a 
helpmeet  for  man.  Who  says  it  requires  a  large  amount 
of  faith  to  believe  these  things  ?  Allowed,  for  argument's 
sake ;  but  how  did  the  world  appear,  and  how  did  man 
originate  ?  There  has  not  been  a  theory  of  evolution  yet 
produced  but  it  would  require  much  more  faith  to  believe 
than  it  does  to  believe  the  Bible  record. 

Ingersoll  is  not  a  scientist,  he  does  not  pretend  to  be, 
but  he  pretends  to  be  the  author  of  a  gospel  that  will  save 
the  human  race  ;  (every  good  thing,  however,  to  be  found 
in  what  he  calls  his  gospel,  is  taken  from  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ;  although  he  says  that  ' '  Science  is  the  only 

(33) 


possible  savior  of  the  human  race.*'  I  wish  now  that  Mr. 
Ingersoll  would  tell  us  how  it  is,  science  being  the  only 
possible  savior  of  the  human  race,  that  he,  making  no  pre- 
tentions to  being  a  scientist,  can  produce  a  gospel  to  do 
what  he  says  nothing  but  science  can  possibly  do.  How 
can  these  two  contradictory  reports  be  true?  Why,  they 
are  inspired,  of  course,  and  he  must  be  inspired  or  he  could 
not  believe  them  both  ;  or,  to  give  you  his  other  version 
of  the  matter,  ^'  by  believing  what  he  knows  is  not  so  he 
becomes  a  saint/* 

How  can  his   two  contradictory   accounts  concerning 
inspiration  be  true,  and   how  can   he  believe  them  both  ? 
According  to  one  of  his  versions  they  are  inspired — or  else 
one  account  is  false,  and  he  is  inspired  or  he  could  not  be- 
lieve them  both  :  according  to  his  other  version  he  believes 
what  he  knows  is  not  so  in  order  to  be  a  saint.     Just  be- 
lieving something  he  does  not  understand,  that  is  all.  How 
can  his  two  contradictory   accounts  concerning  the  pro- 
mise,  "If  we  forgive  our  fellow-men  Godwill  forgive  us,'» 
be   tnie?     In  his   first  account    he   says,    "I   accept   the 
terms;*'  in  his  other  account  he  says,   "  We  do  not   need 
the  forgiveness  of  God."      And  again  further  on   he  says, 
*'  I  do  not  destroy  the  promise  '  If  you  will  forgive  others, 
Godwill  forgive  you;*  "   but  in  less   than   half  a    dozen 
pages  from  there  comes  the  contradictory  account  destroy- 
ing that  promise,  where  he  growls,    "  No  forgiveness  by 
the  gods."     Oh,  that  he  would  tell  us  which   account  to 
believe,  or  whether  to  believe  them  both,   by  inspiration, 
or  count  them  both  true,  believing  what   we  know  is  not 
so  ! 

Let  us  for  a  moment  do  as  he  tells  us,  throw  away  in- 
spiration. That  done,  there  is  no  way  left  for  us  to  be- 
lieve the  two  contradictory  accounts  but  to  believe  what 
we  know  is  not  so,  and  he  says  it  is  not  intelligent  to  do 


h^ 


that,  and  in  one  place  in  the  lecture  he  says,  "intelligence 
must  be  the  savior  of  this  world."  So  where  are  we? 
We  are  in  hell  !  Our  doom  is  sealed  I  This  wise  fool 
tries  to  argue  hell  away,  but  he  argues  it  into  existence ! 
He  aims  his  shot  and  shell  at  Christianity  ;  but  he  hits 
agnosticism  I 


S 


/ 


t 


34) 


'35) 


CHAPTER  IV. 


FINAL  BLOW  TO  INGERSOLL'S  NO-FAITH  GOSPEL. 


The  object  of  this  Chapter  (Ingersoll  denying  the  necessity  of  believ- 
ing in  anything  to  be  saved)  is  to  show  that  he  proves  his  own 
doctrine  false,  and  that  to  be  saved  by  his  Gospel,  Faith  is  an 
absolute  necessity  as  much  as  though  we  accept  the  Bible  Gospel. 
— IngersoU's  ways  of  being  Saved. 


I  would  like,  just  at  this  point,  to  draw  your  mind 
back  to  the  first  chapter  of  this  book,  and  at  the  same  time 
cite  to  you  three  or  four  more  statements  Ingersoll  has 
made  discarding  the  atonement  and  the  necessity  of  faith. 
He  says:  ''Nothing  can  be  more  wonderful  than  the 
fact  that  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke  say  nothing  about  sal- 
vation by  faith ;  that  they  do  not  even  hint  at  the  doc- 
trine of  the  atonement,  and  are  as  silent  as  empty  tombs 
as  to  the  necessity  of  believing  anything  to  secure  happi- 
ness in  this  world  or  another.  From  the  temple  of  mor- 
ality and  truth,  the  parasitic  and  poisonous  vines  of  faith 
must  be  torn.  If  a  certain  belief  is  necessary  to  insure  the 
salvation  of  the  soul,  the  church  ought  to  explain,  and 
without  any  unnecessary  delay,  why  such  an  infinitely 
important  fact  was  utterly  ignored  by  Matthew,  Mark  and 

(36) 


k 


s 


/ 


I 


1 


Luke.''  You  will  remember  that  we  examined  the  gos- 
pels a  little  in  the  first  chapters  of  this  book  and  found 
these  statements  empty  and  void. 

He  says,  ''  They  say,  ''  to  him,  "you  must  believe,'' 
to  which  he  replies,  ''  I  say,  no."  And  yet  I  never  saw 
nor  heard  of  a  piece  of  printed  matter  where  the  author 
says,  ''  1  believe,"  one-quarter  as  much  as  Mr.  Ingersoll 
does.  If  as  he  professes,  he  accepts  the  plan  he  has  given 
us,  for  his  salvation,  he  accepts  it  by  faith  and  that 
leaves  him  with  a  belief,  a  belief  that  ''  a  certain  belief  is 
necessary  to  insure  the  salvation  of  the  soul,"  or  else  his 
statement  that  *'  Science  is  the  only  possible  savior  of 
the  human  race,"  must  be  branded  with  the  false  and 
ridiculous. 

We  believe  that  in  Jesus  Christ  and   his  atonement 
the  human  race  may  find  a  Savior  ;  and  Ingersoll  believes 
that  in  science  only  can  the    human  race  find  a  savior. 
Now,    if  we  accept  what  he  says  must  be  our  savior,  we 
believe  in  something,  and  a  definite  something,  just   as 
much    as    though  we  accept  the  former.     So    whatever 
scheme  of  salvation  we  accept,   it  still  remains  to  be  ac- 
cepted by  faith.     Mr.  Ingersoll  says  he  ''  believes  that  his 
gospel  of  intelligence,  of  health,  good  living,  good  fellow- 
ship etc.,  will  bring  life,  and  cover  the  world  with  wealthy, 
happy  homes."      He  acknowledges  that  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  being  lost,  because,  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  be- 
ing saved  there  must,  of  necessity  be  such  a  thing  as  being 
lost,  and  from  a  really  intelligent  and  scientific  standpoint 
this  must  be  acknowledged  in  opposition — oppositeness  • 
as,  male,  female  ;  large,  small ;  strong,  weak  ;  up,  down; 
preser\'e,  destroy;  truthful,  dishonest;  God,  Satan;   hea- 
ven, hell  ;  saved,  lost.     And  if  it  be  true  that  science  is 
our  only  savior,  to  strike  him  with  his  own  club,   ''Noth- 
ing can  be  more  wonderful  than  the  fact  that  such  an  in- 

(37) 


finitely  important  fact  has  been  utterly  ignored '*  by  all 
infidelity,  and  in  fact  by  all  even  who  claim  to  dis- 
card the  Bible  ;  that  it  never  was  mentioned  until  Bob 
IngersoU  came  into  existence;  that  none  of  these  '*  have 
ever  hinted  at  the  doctrine  of  salvation '*  by  science,  and 
that  for  about  six  thousand  years  "they  were  silent  as 
empty  tombs  as  to  the  necessity  of  believing  '*  in  science 
**to  secure  happiness  in  this  world  or  another.'*  And  the 
human  race  will  never  resort  to  science  for  a  savior  unless 
they  do  believe  it  necessary. 

Let  us  now,  for  argument,  throw  away  the  Bible 
schemeof  salvation,  and  acknowledge  that  "  Science  isour 
only  possible  savior."  Let  us  suppose  that  science  has 
discovered  the  truth  and  can  tell  us  just  what  to  do,  and 
how  to  do  it,  and  that  it  can  give  us  the  power  to  do  the 
things  that  will  free  us  from  all  pain  and  sorrow,  and  bring 
us  life,  wealth  and  glorious  happiness.  The  gospel  of  this 
savior.  Science,  must  be  preached  to  the  world.  Preach- 
ers and  teachers  should  organize  and  spread  the  glad  tid- 
ings from  ''  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth.*'  This  savior  must  explain  to  us  what  to  do 
in  order  that  we  may  procure  its  blessings  and  we  must 
accept  it,  and  do  the  things  it  bids  us  do  ;  and  we  will  not 
accept  it  unless  we  believe  in  it.  So  this  scheme  of  sal- 
vation, you  see,  requires  just  as  much  faith,  and  a  particu- 
lar faith  in  a  particular  something,  as  though  we  accept 
the  Bible.  But,  hold  !  If  IngersolPs  gospel  be  true,  is  it 
possible  for  us  to  come  even  to  this  savior  which  he  has 
appointed?  He  says,  *'  From  the  temple  of  morality  and 
truth  the  parasitic  and  poisonous  vines  of  faith  must  be 
torn."  He  appoints  science  as  our  only  possible  savior, 
and  then  makes  it  impossible  for  us  to  come  and  be  saved. 

Ingersoll  would  be  a  thousand   times  worse  God  than 
he  has  made  out  of  what  he  calls  the  ''Orthodox  and  Pres- 


k 


i 


N 


/ 


/ 


i 
I 


byterian  gods."      He  is  creating  a  worse  hell  than  the  one 
he  aims  to  destroy. 

Now,  ''if  it  should  turn  out  that  all  of  the  professed" 
sceptics  "  in  the  world  are  sinless  saints,  the  question  of 
how"  so  infinitely  important  a  fact  as  that,  "science  isour 
only  possible  savior,"  was  not  given  to  the  world,  even  by 
way  of  prophecy,  until  this  late  hour,  and  of  how  science 
is  to  save  us  unless  we  come  to  it  and  accept,  and  of  how 
we  are  to  accept  this  scheme  of  salvation  unless  we  accept 
it  by  Jaith^  and  of  how  we  may  believe  whatever  we  hap- 
pen to — rejecting  science  as  a  savior— and  still  be  saved, 
if  "Science  is  our  only  savior  "would  still  be  asked." 
"  And  if  it  should  then  be  shown  that  all  the  "  church 
people  and  believers  in  the  Bible  "are  vile  and  vicious 
wretches,  the  question  still  would  wait  for  a  reply." 

Infidelity  "will  be  compelled  at  last  to  rest  its  case, not 
upon  the  wonders"  science  reveals, but  upon  salvation  pre- 
pared for  us  by  an  all-wise  Creator.  "All  the  wonders"  or 
great  discoveries  of  science,  "including  the  'Nuremberg 
man  '  that  '  was  operated  by  a  combination  of  pipes  and 
levers  '  that  '  could  breathe  and  digest  perfectly,  and  even 
reason  '  on  God  and  the  Bible  better  than  infidelity,  yet 
'  was  made  of  nothing  but  wood  and  leather,*  "  are,  when 
compared  with  breathing  into  man*s  nostrils,  after  having 
formed  him,  the  breath  of  life,  creating  from  that  form  a 
living  soul,  giving  him  free  moral  agency,  providing  as 
He  has  a  way  of  redemption  for  sinful  man,  resurrecting 
to  life  a  soul  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  making  a 
new  creature  of  him,  and  giving  us  the  witness  of  His 
Spirit,  "  but  dust  and  darkness."  -, 

**  If  faith  in  a  certain  something" — science — "is 
necessary  to  insure  our  salvation,"  Ingersoll  "ought  to 
explain,  and  without  any  unnecessary  delay,  why  such 
an  infinitely  important  fact  was  utterly  ignored"  for  so 

(39) 


long:  a  time.  He  says  of  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke,  **There 
are  only  two  explanations  possible  :  either  belief  is  un- 
necessary, or  the  writers  of  these  three  gospels  did  not 
understand  the  Christian  system.^'  So  we  must  say  of  In- 
gersolPs  plan,  "  there  are  only  two  explanations  possible:^* 
Human  science  and  faith  therein  is  unnecessary,  or  God 
cruelly  neglected  to  let  the  world  know  that  they  might 
be  saved  by  science  until  this  late  hour,  solely  that  he 
might  give  Ingersoll  the  infinite  honor  of  being  the  chosen 
and  inspired  instrument  to  reveal  such  a  wonderful  fact  to 
the  world.  "  The  '^  foolishness,  the  clearly  defined  falsity 
^^  of  the  subject  cannot  longer  hide  the  absurdity  of"  such 
a  *' scheme  of  salvation,"  nor  the  failure  of  God  and  infi- 
delity **  to  mention,  what  is  now  claimed  to  have  been,  the" 
great  "mission  of"  Mr.  Ingersoll  and  human  science. 
*'The  Church  "  of  Ingersoll,  **  must  take  from  its  testa- 
ment" and  creed,  the  supercilious  notion  that  human  in- 
ventions and  discoveries,  without  inspiration,  will  ever  re- 
deem lost  man.  *'  The  idea  that  an  intellectual  conviction 
can  subject  "  this  world  ''to  eternal  doom  unless"  saved  by 
human  science  alone !  ''The  awful  doctrine  that"  scie- 
ence  can  atone  for  the  crimes  of  guilty  men,  or  that  there 
can  be  any  redemption  for  man  without  divine  interposi- 
tion! 

I  wish  now  to  call  your  attention  to  a  number  of  dif- 
ferent accounts  of  IngersolPs  as  to  how  we  may  be  saved  : 
Page  26  of  the  lecture,  "  Forgive  and  ye  shall  be  forgiven." 
Page  85,  "God  cannot  make  a  man  miserable  if  that 
man  has  made  somebody  else  happy."  Last  page  of  book, 
"  the  honest  man,  the  good  woman,  the  happy  child  have 
nothing  to  fear  in  this  world  or  the  next."  Last  words 
of  letter  to  New  York  Journal,  "  Science  is  the  only  pos- 
sible savior  of  the  human  race."  In  the  first  account  he 
discards  the  Bible  truth,  that  "  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  will 


k 


i 


S 


/ 


/ 


S 


forgive  us,"  but  simply  says,  if  we  excuse  those  who  mis- 
use us  we  are  safe;  not  one  word  said  about  making  some- 
body happy,  or  being  good  or  honest,  or  believing  in  his 
gospel  of  education,  or  science,  or  humor.  In  the  next 
account,  if  we  will  just  go  to  work  and  make  some  person 
happy  nothing  can  make  us  miserable.  He  does  not  men- 
tion the  necessity  of  forgiving  anybody,  or  believing  in 
science,  or  being  good  or  honest  generally.  In  another 
account,  if  we  are  honest,  or  good,  we  are  safe  for  time 
and  eternity  ;  he  does  not  mention  the  necessity  of  educa- 
tion or  science. 


(41 


# 


CHAPTER  V 


CHRISTIANlTY—BARBARIvSM, 


Fall  of  Nations,  Cause  of.— This  Rtpublic  Will  Soon  Go. 


A^ain  listen  to  Iiig^crsoll :      ^'  We  have  what  they  call 
the  Cliristian  reli|^noii,  and  I   find,   jnst  in  proportion  that 
nations  have  been  religious,  jnst  in   proportion  they    have 
clung  to  the  religion  of  their  founders,   they  have  gone 
back  to  barbarism."     .Notice  now,  by  saying,  ''gone  back 
to  barbarism,"  he  acknowledges  that  some  nations  have 
been  lifted  out  of  barbarism,  but  he  does  not  tell  us  by 
what  means.     It  would  be  idiotic  to  say  that  barbarism 
lifted  them  out  of  barbarism,  and  that  being  the  case   it 
would  be  worse  than  idiotic  to  say  that  they  were  not  lift- 
ed out  by  a  good   religion.     The  only  rational  decision 
then,    that  remains  for  any  sane  man  is  this  :     Just   in 
proportion  that  nations  have  fallen  below  the  standard  of 
real  piety  (  no  matter  how  high  their  profession,  for  pro- 
fession does  not  necessarily  imply  possession  )   just  in  that 
proportion  has  oppression  prevailed,  and  have   they  slid 
back  to  barbarity,  not  through  piety  and   godliness  ;    but 
by  a  lack  of  piety.     It  is  a  true  saying  that    ''  Righteous- 
ness exalteth  a  nation  ;  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  peo- 

v42) 


4 


i 


pie."  He  continues  :  "I  find  that  Spain,  Portugal  and 
Italy  are  the  three  worst  nations  in  Europe.  I  find  that 
the  nation  nearest  infidel  is  the  most  prosperous — France." 
As  to  the  first  three  suppose  it  is  true,  it  is  but  a  clear 
manifestation  of  ignominy  to  say  that  Christianity  is  the 
cause  of  ther  being  so  bad.  It  is  a  lack  of  the  vitals  of 
Christianity.  It  is  the  fruits  of  hypocricy  gone  to  seed, 
covered  with  the  beautiful  garb  of  piety,  Christianity  ex- 
isting only  in  name,  of  which  Christ  said,  ''the  platter  is 
clean  without,  but  within  it  is  full  of  dead  men's  bones 
and  all  uncleanness." 

According  to  what  Ingersoll  says,  all  nations  which 
these  many  years  have  been  found  in  a  good  state  of  civili- 
zation will  soon  be  swallowed  up  in  barbarism,  for  he 
says,  "We  have  what  they  call  the  Christian  religion,  and 
I  find  just  in  proportion  that  nations  have  been  religious, 
just  in  proportion  they  have  clung  to  the  religion  of  their 
founders'  they  have  gone  back  to  barbarism  :" 

Nations  that  have  reached  the  highest  state  of  civili- 
zation have  been  thus  exalted  by  making  use  of  principles 
of  the  religion  of  the  Bible;  and  just  in  proportion  that 
they  have  denied  the  God  of  the  Bible,  and  refused  to 
walk  in  those  ways  have  they  seen  trouble;  and  anybody 
with  but  very  little  knowledge  of  these  things  knows  my 
statement  true.  Consider  our  own  country,  our  loved 
United  States.  What  exalted  so  small  a  nation  above  all 
nations  of  earth?  Was  it  not  a  larger  amount  of  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Bible  than  existed  anywhere  else?  And  just 
in  proportion  as  this  nation  is  departing  from  the  faith 
and  piety  of  its  founders,  letting  go  of  true  piety  and  giv- 
ing place  to  hypocricy,  is  it  meeting  its  doom.  — 

How  devoid  of  all  reason  is  the  idea  that  where  the 
most  religion  is,  there,  is  the  most  barbarity!  It  is  im- 
possible to  name  a  nation  or  a  people  without  a  religion 

(43) 


of  some  kind.  Ingersoll  has  his  religion;  but  he  rejects 
the  only  true  religion  and  formulates  one  of  his  own. 
He  is  as  religious  (in  his  way  J  as  we  are,  he  studies  our 
Bible  and  our  writings  in  search  of  material  wherewith  to 
propagate  his  own  religion;  and  whenever  he  finds  any- 
thing in  the  Bible  that  can  be  used  against  him  he  growls, 
**  Interjx)lation  !  " 

The  Bible  is  the  only  system  of  religion  that  re- 
nounces idolatry,  unless  it  is  Mohammedanism,  and  that 
professes  to  be  founded  on  our  Bible,  and  there  is  but  one 
system  professing  Christianity  that  holds  to  idolatry— its 
images— the  Roman  Catholic.  Organized  peoples,  almost 
without  number,  have  met  their  doom  for  holding  to  idola- 
try, and  rejecting  the  God  of  the  Bible,  just  as  God  in 
the  word  said  they  would;  and  those  that  have  not  already, 
will  in  the  near  future.  The  United  States  will,  in  the 
very  near  future,  be  torn  to  pieces,  and  cease  to  be  a  re- 
public, not  because  of  its  molten  images  or  its  piety;  but 
because  of  its  hypocricy,  its  social,  political  and  financial 
treachery. 


r 


i 


V 


f^ 


i 


CHAPTER  VI. 


FRANCE. 


Infidelity's  heinous  work.— Dissolute  girl  to  take  the  place  of  Deity- 
Infidelity  of  France  causing  fulfillment  of  prophecy,  etc.  etc. 


U4) 


Now  for  France  !  Read  from  Ingersoll  again:  '*! 
find  that  the  nation  nearest  infidel  is  the  most  prosperous — 
France.  *'  Considering  our  answer  to  this  we  must  con- 
nect another  statement  from  the  same  lecture,  namely  : 
''  I  believe  in  the  gospel  of  intelligence.  '*  Further  on  he 
calls  it  *'My  gospel  of  intelligence.  '^  He  says  also, 
''  That  is  the  only  lever  capable  of  raising  mankind.  In- 
telligence must  be  the  savior  of  this  world.  ''  He  points 
us  to  infidel  France  as  an  example. 

Ingersoll  has  told  us  what  he  finds  about  infidel 
France,  now  let  us  sec  what  we  can  find.  I  find  that  no 
nation  was  ever  so  prosperous  in  its  widely  extended  in- 
fluences of  the  baneful  effects  of  infidelity  as  France.  I 
find  that  the  cruelties  and  butcherings  of  war  were  never 
more  plainly  manifest  than  in  the  French  Revolution, 
planned  and  executed  by  infidelity,  with  Voltaire,  one  of 
the  most  noted  infidels  that  ever  lived,  and   four  or  five 

'45) 


others  to  lead  the  van  in  the  beginning  of  the  crusade  that 
led  to  the  French  Revolution. 

This  Voltaire  you  know  was  the  infidel  who  said: 
*'  I  am  tired  of  hearing  it  said  that  twelve  men  established 
the  Christian  religion;  I  will  show  that  one  man  can  suffice 
to  overthrow  it.  "  And  so  by  this  intellectual  giant  of 
infidelity,  with  his  four  colleagues:  Frederic  II,  Prussia's 
king;  Diderot,  D'Alembert,  and  Rousseau,  a  plot  was 
formed,  by  all  the  deceit  and  treachery  that  intelligence 
with  infidelity  and  irreverence  were  able  to  muster,  for  the 
purpose  of  uprooting  Christianity  and  blotting  it  off  the 
face  of  the  earth.  And  all  this,  understand,  by  the  in- 
telligence of  Infidel  France,  the  nation  that  Ingersoll  holds 
up  to  us  as  a  model. 

This  Voltaire  (I  quote  from  ^*Guizot's  History  of 
France  "  )  when  planning  the  crusade  against  Christianity, 
'*  was  taking  the  communion  to  soften  the  Jesuits  and 
was  conforming  to  the  rules  of  a  convent.  He  wrote  to 
D'Alcmbert:  *  I  assure  you  that  my  friends  and  I  will 
lead  them  a  fine  dance;  they  shall  drink  the  cup  to  the 
very  lees.  In  the  great  campaign  against  Christianity  un- 
dertaken by  the  philosophers,  Voltaire,  so  long  a  waver- 
ing ally,  will  henceforth  fight  in  the  foremost  ranks;  it 
is  he  who  shouts  to  Diderot,  squelch  the  thing!  The 
masks  are  off  and  the  fight  is  bare-faced;  the  encyclo- 
paedists ' — he  was  helping  write  an  encyclopaedia — '  march 
out  to  the  conquest  of  the  world,  in  the  name  of  reason, 
humanity  and  free  thinking;  even  when  he  has  ceased 
to  work  at  the  encyclopaedia,  Voltaire  marches  with 
them. '  ''     And  behold  the  result!  ' 

Louis  XV  was  king  of  France  for  over  fifty  years 
previous  to  that  terrible  revolutionary  outbreak.  Some 
of  his  advisers  warned  him  of  the  impending  fate  of  the 
nation,  and  urgently  insisted  upon  a  reformation;  and  lis- 

(46)       • 


# 


V 


^ 

^ 


( 


ten  to   his  cold   and   indifferent   reply:      "Try   to  make 
things  go  on  as  long  as  I  am  likely  to  live;  after  my  death 
it  may  be  as  it  will. »'     To  no  purpose  did  they  remon- 
strate with  him.     Clearly  could  he  realize  the  gathering 
of  the  fateful  clouds  that  were  soon  to  break  out  in  their 
fury;  and  here  are  the  words  in  which   he  portrayed  the 
fate  of  a  nation  that  had  gone  over  to  infidelity:     **  After 
me  the  deluge.  ''     The  deluge  came.     When  that  revolu- 
tion first  began  the  king  yielded  to  the  idea  of  allowing 
the  commonalty  a  larger  delegation  in  the  legislature  than 
was  held  by  the  Nobility  and  Romish   priests  together,  so 
that  the  heavier  part  of   law-making  material  rested  with 
them.     This,  however,  did  not  pacify  them.     They  were 
blood   thirsty,  and  blood  they   would  spill !     They  were 
bent  on  the  annihilation  of  Christianity.     They  were  de- 
termined to  butcher  the  classes  (Catholics  and  politicians) 
that  had  butchered   so  many   before   them,  because   they 
would  not  acknowledge   the  supremacy  of  the  beast  (the 
Pope).      They  followed    the   example  of  Catholicism   in 
their  endeavors  to  suppress  the  Bible.     Christianity,   for  a 
short  season,  in  all  nations,  was  lashed  by  the  bitter  fangs 
of  foul-mouthed   infidelity.      Infidel   France    became  the 
mother  of  the  malignant  pool  of  agnosticism;  that  gigantic 
cess-pool   overflowed  its  banks  and  spread  its  virus   from 
sea  to  sea. 

The  work  of  Infidel  France  and  the  Roman  Beast 
seems  to  answer  to  the  prophecy  of  the  first  part  of  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  Revelation,  verse  3,  "  And  I  will  give 
power  unto  my  two  witnesses"  (which  must  mean  the 
two  Testaments  that  make  up  the  Bible)  "  and  they  shall 
prophesy  a  thousand  two  hundred  and  three  score  days 
(years— Num.  14:34;   Ez.  4:6)    ''  clothed   in  sackcloth.  " 

The  period  of  1260  years  in  which  the  two  witnesses 
(the  Old  and  New  Testaments)  should  prophesy,  clothed 

(47) 


in  sackcloth,  had  reference  to  the  centuries  that  the  real 
believers  in  Christ  were  to  receive  their  worst  persecutions 
and  crimes  from  Roman  Catholics,  and  when  Rome  would 
do  the  most  in  keepin<^  the  Bible,  the  two  witnesses, 
from  the  hands  of  the  people.  So  the  supreme  authority 
of  popedom  beginning  A.  D.  538,  1798  must  bring  that 
1260  years  to  its  terminus.  It  was  right  at  this  point  that 
a  large  band  of  French  warriors  stormed  the  Vatican,  took 
the  pope  prisoner,  and  held  him  in  banishment  until  the 
time  of  his  death.  It  was  not  long  before  another  pope 
was  placed  in  his  stead,  but  that  infamous  beast,  pope- 
dom, received  a  blow  from  which  it  has  not  fully  recover- 
ed, and  the  power  which  it  employed  during  that  1260 
years  it  never  has  been  permitted  to  employ  again. 

But  this  awfully  cruel  exercise  of  power,  by  Rome, 
however,  was  greatly  subdued  shortly  before  the  close  of 
the  1260  years.  Why?  (See  Matt.  24th — Ch.  first  22 
verses).  Christ  in  speaking  of  it  said,  ''Except  those 
days  should  be  shortened,  there  should  no  flesh  be  saved; 
but  for  the  elect's  sake  those  days  shall  be  shortened. '' 

It  is  plain  enough  that  the  two  witnesses  are  the  two 
Testaments  of  the  Bible.  The  next  verse  of  Rev.  II, speak- 
ing of  them  says,  "These  are  the  two  olive-trees,  and  the 
two  candlesticks  standing  before  the  God  of  the  earth.'' 
The  prophet  Zechariah  saw  the  two  olive  trees,  one  on 
either  side  of  the  golden  candlesticks  upon  which  was  a 
bowl  with  seven  lamps  thereon,  the  seven  lamps  being  the 
same  as  the  seven  candlesticks  that  represent  the  seven 
churches  of  Asia,  in  Rev.  ist  chapter.  And  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  represented  by  the  two  witnesses  in  Rev. 
II,  and  by  the  two  olive  trees  in  Zech.  4,  were  seen  by  the 
prophet,  one  on  each  side  of  the  lamps,  or  churches,  be- 
cause upon  the  two  Testaments  is  the  Church  of  Christ 
founded.      The  prophet  asked  the   meaning  of  the  two 

(48^ 


> 


/ 


» 


olive  trees  and  the  angel  answered:  "This  is  the  word 
of  the  Lord  unto  Zerubbabel,  saying.  Not  by  night,  nor 
by  power,  but  my  spirit,  saith  the  I^ord  of  hosts. ' '  Again 
he  asks  the  same  question  of  the  olive  trees  and  the  olive 
branches,  and  again  the  angel  answers:  "  These  are  the 
two  annointed  ones,  that  stand  by  the  Lord  of  the 
whole  earth,''  while  John  says.  Rev.  11:4,  *' Standing 
before  the  God  of  the  earth.  "  The  same  statement  you 
see. 

Verse  7:  "And  when  they"  (^the  two  witnesses) 
shall  have  finished  their  testimony,  "  (in  sackcloth,  Rome's 
greatest  persecutions  ceasing)  "the  beast  that  ascendeth 
out  of  the  bottomless  pit  shall  make  war  against  them" 
f the  two  witnesses)  "and  shall  overcome  them,  and  kill 
them. ' '     What  is  the  meaning  of  that  ? 

Picture  to  yourself  as  vividly  as  possible  the  appall- 
ing condition  of  the  minds  of  infidels  who  have  left  a 
record  of  their  condition,  when  professing  infidelity,  and 
see  if  you  can  conceive  of  anything  more  applicable  than 
a  beast  in  a  bottomless  pit,  and  think  of  France  as  a  na- 
tion given  over  to  infidelity. 

Infidel  France,  the  nation  that  Ingersoll  holds  up  to 
us  as  a  model,  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution,  in 
1773,  deliberately  unsheathed  its  sword  of  infidelity  and 
brought  to  pass  the  saying  of  this  prophecy,  by  assassinat- 
ing these  two  witnesses. 

After  the  intellectual  giants  of  infidelity  flatly  refused 
to  take  the  reins  of  government  in  peace  and  quietude,  in 
debasement  and  cruelty  through  the  appalling  scenes  of 
the  Revolution  captured  the  government,  and  on  the  meet- 
ing of  the  legislature  passed  a  resolution  that  there  was 
no  God,  and  passed  a  prohibitory  law,  for  the  suppression 
of  the  Bible,  prohibiting  the  printing  and  circulation  of 
holy  writ,   and  this  act  was  the  murdering  of   the  Two 

(49) 


i 


% 


Witnesses  which,  for  a  number  of  centuries,  had  been 
prophesying  "  clothed  in  sackcloth  *' — under  most  adverse 
circumstances.  By  this  act,  together  with  gathering  and 
destroying  of  Bibles  already  printed,  abolishing  the  day 
of  rest,  setting  apart  one  day  in  ten  for  blasphemous  car- 
ousing; prohibiting  of  the  sacrament,  of  baptismal  rites 
and  the  worship  of  God,  and,  in  fact,  by  the  use  of  all 
means  possible  they  intended  to  annihilate  Christianity. 
But  God  had  said,  '*My  word  shall  not  return  unto  me 
void,  but  shall  accomplish  that  whereunto  it  was  sent.  " 

Verse  8:  **And  their  dead  bodies  shall  lie  in  the 
street  of  tte  great  city,  which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom 
and  Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified.  '*  In  this 
passage  you  can  plainly  see  it  was  shown  to  the  prophet 
that  the  nation  which  should  hush  the  voice  of  the  scrip- 
tures, (the  two  witnesses),  was  to  distinctly  represent 
Sodom's  lasciviousness,  the  atheistical  heart  of  Egypt, 
and  the  crucifixion  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  moral  corrup- 
tion of  Sodom  is  well  known.  The  infidelity  of  Egypt 
was  made  manifest  in  Pharo's  reply  to  Moses:  **Whois 
Jehovah,  that  I  should  obey  his  voice  to  let  Israel  go?  I 
know  not  Jehovah,  neither  will  I  let  Israel  go.'*  Dur- 
ing the  Revolution  the  astounding  exclamation  of  the 
spirit  of  Infidel  France  was  heard  resounding  through  the 
land  that  Christ  was  a  deception,  an  imposition,  and  they 
capped  the  climax  by  the  ridiculing  fiendish  shouts  of 
*  *  Crush  the  wretch !  * ' 

a.  **  Their  dead  bodies  shall  lie  in  the  street''  is  ex- 
plained in  the  fact  that  France,  in  her  infidelity,  had  not 
only  gathered  and  destroyed  the  printed  copies  of  the 
Bible,  but  had  by  law  prohibited  the  scriptures,  thus  stop- 
ping the  mouth  of  those  *  *  two  witnesses  ' '  so  that  they 
met  their  death  blow;  and  for  nearly  four  years  God's  im- 
mutable word  of  truth  lay  prostrate  through  the  length 

(50) 


V 


•^ 


W 


> 


) 


i 


and  breadth  of  a  land  whose  people  despised  religious  and 
moral  restraint. 

b.  ''  Which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom"  is  explain- 
ed in  the  fact  that  France  sunk  to  deeper  depths  of  moral 
and  religious  corruption  than  Sodom  did. 

c.  **  Which  spiritually  is  called  Egypt  "  is  explain- 
ed in  the  fact  that  France  rebelled  against  the  Almightv, 
in  both  word  and  deed,  in  a  manner  that  equalled,  or  ex- 
celled, that  of  Egypt.  A  priest  connected  with  the  lead- 
ers voiced  the  sentiments  of  the  nation  that  Ingersoll 
holds  up  to  us  as  a  model,  and  also  of  Egypt  of  old,  in  the 
following  words :  ^*God,  if  you  exist,  avenge  your  in- 
jured name.  I  bid  you  defiance  !  You  remain  silent! 
You  dare  not  launch  your  thunders !  Who,  after  this, 
will  believe  in  your  existence  ?  ' ' 

d.  **  Where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified  "  is  explain- 
ed by  Infidel  France'  having  pronounced  imposition  upon 
the  name  of  Christ,  and  in  the  maddened  furies  of  the 
Revolution  calling  upon  one  another  to  '*  Crush  the 
Wretch  !  ' ' 

Verse  9:  **  And  they  of  the  people,  and  kindreds, 
and  tongues,  and  nations,  shall  see  their  dead  bodies  three 
days  and  a  half  "—three  and  one  half  years,  (Num.  1 1:34; 
Eze.  4:6;  **  and  shall  not  suffer  their  dead  bodies  to  be 
put  in  graves.  "  This  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the 
evil  influences  of  infidelity  that  were  tlmndering  on 
through  France  in  uncontrollable  velocity  were  felt  for  a 
time,  through  all  nations,  so  that  the  people,  kindreds, 
tongues  and  nations,  beheld  the  evil  effects  of  infidelity 
emanating  from  France,  for  three  and  one  half  ytars, 
which  was  the  time  that  the  national  resolution  to  the 
effect  that  there  was  no  God;  and  the  law  prohibiting  tiie 
scriptures  and  the  worship  of  God,  which  was  the  killing 
of  the  two  witnesses — remained  upon  the  statute  books. 

^51) 


Verse  lo:  '*And  they  that  dwell  upon  the  earth 
shall  rejoice  over  them,'' — the  death  of  the  two  wit- 
nesses— *'and  make  merry,  and  send  gifts  one  to  another; 
because  these  two  Prophets  tormented  them  that  dwelt  on 
the  earth.  "  This  was  fulfilled  by  the  universal  rejoicing 
over  the  reign  of  infidelity  and  the  death  of  these  ''  two 
witnesses,"— the  war  against  the  Bible  (prohibiting  its 
sale)  and  Christianity,  which  the  leaders  set  out  to  com- 
pletely destroy.  One  day  in  ten  was  set  apart  for  carous- 
ing and  making  merry;  and  when  the  news  was  heralded 
that  the  legislators  of  France  had  resolved  against  God, 
and  passed  a  law  prohibiting  His  word — the  Bible — men 
and  women  became  jubilant  in  dancing,  and  in  singing, 
because  they  were  anxious  to  be  counted  free  from  all 
moral  obligation,  and  proposed  that  nothing  should  re- 
strain them  from  worldliness  and  sensuality. 

Verse  1 1 :  ''  And  after  three  days  and  a  half '  '—three 
and  one  half  years — '*the  spirit  of  life  from  God  entered 
into  them,  and  they  stood  upon  their  feet;  and  great  fear 
fell  upon  them  which  saw  them.  "  God  had  said  that  His 
word  should  abide  forever.  Although  Infidel  France  had 
been  permitted  to  deal  it— the  two  witnesses — a  death 
blow,  it  was  not  suffered  to  be  buried  and  lost  in  oblivion; 
and  this  passage  was  fulfilled  when,  in  just  three  and 
one  half  years  from  the  time  that  Infidel  France  ruthless- 
ly thundered  a  resolution  through  its  legislature  denying 
the  existence  of  the  Deity,  revoked  that  resolution.  It 
was  fulfilled  when,  in  just  three  and  one  half  years  from 
the  passage  of  the  law  prohibiting  the  scriptures,  that  law 
was  repealed,  and  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  permitted. 
A  scriptural  proverb  reads:  **  They  hated  knowledge, 
and  did  not  choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord;  therefore  shall 
they  eat  of  the  fruit  of  their  own  way,  and  be  filled  with 
their  own  devices."     They  had  found  it  true.     Smitten 

(52) 


k 


\ 


V 


** 


with  horror,  all  civilization,  France  as  high  in  the  list  as 
any  nation,  in  awful  amazement  gazed  upon  the  horrify- 
ing atrocities  that  sprung  from  renouncing  the  book  of 
divine  revelation,  the  word  of  infinite  wisdom !  Even  the 
very  legislative  assembly  that  had  thus  declared  against 
God  and  his  word,  seeing  the  outcome  began  to  realize 
that  the  mighty  word  of  supreme  excellence  and  its  beau- 
tiful teachings,  must  be  restored  to  a  lost  people,  and  as  a 
last  resort,  and  the  only  means  to  save  their  own  nation 
from  everlasting  revolt  and  destruction,  they  rescinded 
their  own  infidel  resolution  and  law.  Thus  were  the 
'* two  witnesses'*  endowed  with  greater  power  and  more 
life  apparently  than  ever  they  had  been  before,  so  that 
*  *  great  fear  fell  upon  them  which  saw  them ' ' — the  mul- 
titudes who  had  been  exultant  over  the  apparent  defeat 
of  the  Bible,  and  abolition  of  Christianity,  on  seeing  them 
placed  upon  their  feet,  and  exalted  to  a  higher  station  in 
their  midst,  than  ever  before,  were  filled  with  fearfulness 
before  their  Creator. 

So  much  for  Mr.  IngersolPs  '*  I  find  that  the  nation 
nearest  infidel,  is  the  most  prosperous — France.  "  So 
much  for  his  **  Gospel  of  Intelligence,  "  which  he  says 
**is  the  only  lever  capable  of  raising  mankind,  "  and 
which  ^^must  be  the  savior  of  this  world,  "  preached  and 
carried  into  effect  by  the  nation  that  he  holds  up  to  us  as 
a  model.  They  had  intelligence  enough,  however,  to  see 
what  they  had  done,  and  acknowledged  it  to  the  world, 
by  repealing  their  infidel  resolution  and  law.  Look  again 
at  the 

Colossal  Intelugence  ("reason)  of  Infidelity! 

France  having  rejected  the  veneration  of  the  Deity,  the 
God  of  the  universe,  the  nation  was  soon  swallowed  up 
in  the  most  lewd  idolatry.     A  dissolute  female  was  pre- 

(53) 


sented  to  the  great  and  intelligent  legislative  body  of 
France  as  the  one  object  worthy  their  highest  regards, 
and  this  their  worship  of  intelligence  they  called  the 
**  Goddess  of  Reason.  '' 

A  formal  rite,  of  these  licentious  and  idolatrous  wor- 
shippers of  intelligence,  certainly  appears  to  the  world 
unequalled  in  folly,  immorality  and  irreverence.  Those 
of  the  city  government,  followed  by  a  company  of  music- 
al experts,  marched  deliberately,  and  yet  solemnly,  into 
the  presence  of  the  conventionists — made  up,  understand, 
of  the  supreme  civic  and  authoritative  body  of  the  land — 
and  at  once  began  their  worship  by  the  use  of  an  appropri- 
ate song  which  rung  out  their  praises  of  freedom — 
what  they  called  freedom — and  accompanied  by  the  dei- 
fied woman  with  face  concealed  in  the  usual  female  style, 
to  be  accepted  as  the  one  Being  worthy  their  highest  hon- 
ors, their  best  love,  their  deepest  affection,  yea!  their 
profound  adoration.  On  being  presented  to  this  august, 
yet  infidel  assembly,  IngersoU's  essence  of  intelligence, 
she  was  given  a  conspicuous  position  at  the  president's 
right,  her  veil  was  removed,  her  beautiful  form  exhibited, 
and  most  of  them  knew  her  to  be  an  operatic  dancer. 
And  so  that  infidel  company  of  legislators  publicly  greet- 
ed with  reverential  worship  their  ''Goddess  of  Reason, '' 
humbly  acknowledging  her  to  be  the  most  appropriate 
personification  of  the  intelligence  which  they  adored. 
Such  ludicrous  mimicry  !  And  yet  all  through  the  coun- 
try did  those  who  were  anxious  to  publicly  sanction  the 
atrocities  of  the  Revolution,  ape  their  intelligent  leaders 
and  vest  their  lady  with  the  deified  title  of  "  Goddess  of 
Reason.  '' 

Introductory  to  the  adoration  of  intelligence  the  elo- 
quent speaker  selected  to  present  the  Goddess  to  that  com- 
pany poured  out  his  torrent  of  eloquence  in  part,  by  call- 

r54) 


1 


ing  on  weak  humanity  no  longer  to  stand  in  apprehension 
of  danger  from  the  God  who  had  been  begotten  by  their 
own  cowardice;  and  forever  after  to  let  reason  be  the  only 
divine  essence  they  should  recognize.  He  said,  *'  Fall 
before  the  august  senate  of  freedom,  veil  of  reason.  '*  ''I 
offer  you  its  noblest  and  purest  image.  ''  He  called  her, 
*' This  animated  image,  the  masterpiece  of  creation.'* 
How  much  indeed,  is  this  like  Ingersoll !  France  called 
it  *' Reason, ''  he  calls  it  intelligence,  while  both  had  ref- 
erence to  the  same  element  in  man;  and  yet  neither  France 
nor  Robert  Ingersoll,  with  all  their  intelligence,  exercise 
enough  of  that  most  excellent  attribute  to  acknowledge 
the  supremacy  and  worthiness  of  the  Creator  and  giver  of 
these  good  gifts.  Both  place  women  above  the  Almighty. 
Both  propose  to  revel  in  the  gifts  and  forget  the  giver. 
How  then  can  we  read  what  Ingersoll  says  about  intelli- 
gence, and  then  his  statement,  "It  is  far  more  important 
to  love  your  wife  than  to  love  God,''  without  knowing 
that  had  he  been  in  France  at  that  time  he  would  have 
been  a  leader  in  that  infamous  move  ? 

He  comes  down  hard  on  hypocrisy  (so  did  Christ) 
yet  how  [can  one  manifest  blacker  and  more  open 
hypocrisy  than  does  Ingersoll  in  warring  against  Chris- 
tianity, and  pronouncing  it  a  fake,  without  having  put  it 
to  the  test  himself.  Let  him  speak  to  God  in  earnest 
prayer.  Let  him  say  "thank  you"  to  God.  Let  the 
prison  bars  of  '>  I  Am"  burst  asunder  and  his  soul  pour 
forth  a  torrent  of  praises  to  his  Creator  and  see  with  what 
greater  power  he  w^ould  be  vested  to  help  "his  wife  enjoy 
the  perfumes  of  life."  I  defy  him  to  test  Christianity  and 
remain  an  unbeliever. 

But  what  do  you  think  now  of  IngersoU's  Infidel 
France?  It  was  the  intelligent  infidels  of  France  who  made 
it  impossible  for  friends  and  neighbors  to  meet  in  saluta- 

V55^ 


tion,  or  kneel  in  prayer,  lest  they  be  found  out,  and  both 
counted  and  treated  as  criminals.  It  was  the  intelligent 
infidels  of  France  who  prepared  and  used  the  guillotine,  a 
machine  to  quickly  sever  a  person's  head  from  the  body. 
It  was  the  intelligent  infidels  of  France  who  were  so  smart 
as  to  gather  their  victims  so  rapidly  that  they  could  not 
work  their  infernal  machine  fast  enough.  It  was  the  in- 
telligent infidels  of  France  who  refused  to  peaceably  take 
the  reins  of  government,  when  offered  them  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Revolution,  but  continued  their  wretched  work 
until  the  streams  that  poured  their  contents  into  the  river 
Seine  were  made  frothy  by  the  life-giving  fluid  from  human 
veins;  that  devastated  Lyons  to  but  a  wilderness;  that  lined 
the  river  Loire,  a  long  distance  from  the  ocean,  with  nude 
bodies  of  human  beings,  frightfully  twisted  about  each 
other  and  furnishing  festal  enjoyment  for  multitudes  of 
kites  and  crows.  It  was  the  intelligent  infidels  of  France 
who  kept  up  that  awful  Revolution  for  ten  long  years,  dur- 
ing which  time,  millions  were  slaughtered;  and  his  Infidel 
France  has  had  a  revolution  once  in  about  ten  years  ever 
since. 

The  intelligent  infidels  of  France  made  another  law, 
which  may  be  called  a  very  near  relative  of  the  laws  against 
the  Bible  and  Christianity,  in  which  they  disapproved 
matrimonial  vows,  so  that  the  marriage  contract  amount- 
ed to  only  a  simple  agreement  to  which  a  couple  might  sub- 
scribe and  live  as  man  and  wife  as  long  as  life  was  spared 
them,  or  separate  as  soon  as  they  pleased,  and  the  result 
was  a  degradation  and  inward  corruption  of  the  home 
circle  and  of  society  never  known  in  that  land  before.  It 
is  a  well  known  fact  that  the  bodies  of  ten  thousand  infants 
have  been  taken  from  the  sewers  of  the  city  of  Paris  alone 
in  a  single  year. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact,  or  ought  to  be  at  any  rate, 

(56) 


Jr 


) 


! 


that  Infidel  France  is  the  mother  of  anarchy,  and  that  or- 
ganized anarchists  of  France,  have  been  preaching  their 
doctrine  for  years,  and  are  doing  more  of  late  than  ever 
before,  to  spread  its  doctrines  and  organize  anarchistic 
bodies  in  other  nations.  It  is  a  well  known  fact,  or  ought 
to  be  at  any  rate,  that  in  Infidel  France  as  in  no  other 
nation  on  earth,  are  the  public  rulers  in  danger  of  losing 
their  life  at  the  hands  of  an  enraged  populace. 

In^ersoll  exceedingly  degrades  the  real  spirit  of  Cath- 
olicism, and  to  be  sure  it  is  right  that  he  should.  He 
says,  ''I  love  Catholics  but  hate  Catholicism."  That  is 
good  also,  but  he  does  not  consider  the  fact  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  is  the  mother  of  his  infidelity 
in  France.  Surely  there  is  no  consistency  in  holding 
France  up  to  the  world  as  a  model  nation  and  as- 
cribing the  glory  of  the  nation  to  infidelity  and  then 
flinging,  with  all  his  might,  his  ''Anathama  Mara- 
natha"  at  the  very  organization — the  Roman  Catholic 
church — that  led  France  into  infidelity  and  gave  it  the 
exalted  place  among  nations  that  he  claims  for  it. 
If  it  were  true,  as  he  clains,  that  infidel  doctrines  had  made 
France  a  truly  prosperous  people,  then  certainly  the  in- 
fluences that  made  France  an  infidel  nation  should  be 
highly  extolled,  and  lovingly  and  adorably  honored  by  all. 
Rut  it  is  a  fact  that  Catholicism  led  the  people  of  France  on 
to  infidelity,  and  infidelity  brought  on  the  outrages  which 
the  world  has  called  ''The  Reign  of  Terror.'*  A 
Catholic  bishop  in  a  legislative  assembly  in  France  openly 
avowed  the  system  of  religion  which  he  had  taught  so  long 
to  be  but  a  method  of  religious  trickery,  without  historical 
or  Biblical  foundation ;  and  denied  the  existence  of  the  Lord 
God  whom  he  had  worshipped,  and  to  whose  service  he 
had  been  solemnly  dedicated;  the  adorning  ornaments  of 
his  bishopric  were  laid  aside,  and  a  goodly  number  of  Cat- 


r"^' 
.-'••i. 


Ml.^ 


13  t 


tion,  or  kneel  in  prayer,  lest  they  be  found  out,  and  both 
counted  and  treated  as  criminals.  It  was  the  intelligent 
infidels  of  France  who  prepared  and  used  the  guillotine,  a 
machine  to  quickly  sever  a  person's  head  from  the  body. 
It  was  the  intelligent  infidels  of  France  who  were  so  smart 
as  to  gather  their  victims  so  rapidly  that  they  could  not 
work  their  infernal  machine  fast  enough.  It  was  the  in- 
telligent infidels  of  France  who  refused  to  peaceably  take 
the  reins  of  government,  when  offered  them  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Re\'olution,  but  continued  their  wretched  work 
until  the  streams  that  poured  their  contents  into  the  river 
Seine  were  made  frothy  by  the  life-gi\4ng  fluid  from  human 
veins;  that  devastated  Lyons  to  but  a  wilderness;  that  lined 
the  river  Loire,  a  long  distance  from  the  ocean,  with  nude 
bodies  of  human  beings,  frightfully  twisted  about  each 
other  and  furnishing  festal  enjoyment  for  multitudes  of 
kites  and  crows.  It  was  the  intelligent  infidels  of  France 
who  kept  up  that  awful  Revolution  for  ten  long  years,  dur- 
ing which  time,  millions  were  slaughtered ;  and  his  Infidel 
France  has  had  a  revolution  once  in  about  ten  years  ever 
since. 

The  intelligent  infidels  of  France  made  another  law, 
which  may  be  called  a  very  near  relative  of  the  laws  against 
the  iJihle  and  Christianity,  in  whicli  tliev  disapproved 
iiiatriiuonial  vows,  so  that  the  marriage  contract  amount- 
ed to  only  a  simple  agreement  to  which  a  couple  might  sub- 
scribe aiiU  ii\"e  as  inan  and  wife  as  long  as  life  was  spared 
tliviii,  or  M'parate  as  soon  a^  tlif\-  pleased,  and  iIk"  result 
\va>  a,  dfgradaliuii  and  inward  corruption  of  llit;  honic 
circle  and  of  societv  never  kri<>\\ii  in  tliat  land  before.  It 
is  a  well  known  fact  tliai  the  bodies  of  ten  thon^and  infants 
lia\-e  been  taken  froiri  the  sewers  of  the  cil\-  of  Paris  alone 
m  a  sialic  \a;ar. 

It  i>  a  wad!  Known  fact.  Drought  to  be  at  any  rate, 

(56) 


> 


w 


^ 


"^** 


) 


1 


that  Infidel  France  is  the  mother  of  anarchy,  and  that  or- 
ganized anarchists  of  France,  have  been  preaching  their 
doctrine  for  years,  and  are  doing  more  of  late  than  ever 
before,  to  spread  its  doctrines  and  organize  anarchistic 
bodies  in  other  nations.  It  is  a  well  known  fact,  or  ought 
to  be  at  any  rate,  that  in  Infidel  France  as  in  no  other 
nation  on  earth,  are  the  public  rulers  in  danger  of  losmg 
their  life  at  the  hands  of  an  enraged  populace. 

Ingeisoll  exceedingly  degrades  the  real  spirit  of  Cath- 
olicism,   and  to   be  sure  it  is  right  that  he  should.     He 
says,  "I  love  Catholics  but  hate  Catholicism/'     That  is 
good  also,  but  he  does   not  consider  the   fact   that  Uie 
Roman  Catholic  church   is  the   mother  of  his   infidelit>- 
in    France.     Surely  there   is   no  consistency   in  holding 
France  up  to    the    world    as    a   model   nation    and  as- 
cribing  the   glor\-   of  the  nation  to  infidelity   and   then 
flinging,     with    all    his    might,  his    -  Anathama    Mara- 
natha''    at   the   ver>'   organization — ^the  Roman  Catholic 
church— that  led  France   into   infidelity  and  ga\  e  it  the 
exalted     place    among     nations     that     he   claims   for   it. 
If  it  were  true,  as  he  clains,  that  infidel  doctrine-  had  ni a  le 
France  a  truly  prosperous  people,   then  certanilv  the   in- 
fluences that  made  France   an    infidel    nation    slmidd  be 
highly  extolled,  and  lovingly  and  adorably  honored  1  >  all. 
But  it  is  a  fact  that  Catholicism  led  the  people  of  France  on 
to  infidelity,  and  infidelity  brought  on  the  ontrages  which 
the    world    has    called    ^' The  Reign    of    Terror/'       A 
Catholic  bishop  in  a  legislative  asseniblv  in  France  openly 
avowed  the  system  of  religion  wliicii  he  liad  tauoht  so  long- 
to  be  but  a  method  of  religious  trickery,  without  historical 
or  Biblical  foundation;  and  denied  the  existence  of  the  Lord 
God  wiioni  he  had  worshipped,   anrl  to    whose   service    he 
had  been  ^^oleninly  dedicated;  the  adorning  ornaments  of 
his  bishopric  were  laid  aside,  and  a  goodly  niiml)er  of  Cat- 


holic  priests  performed  the  same  act  of  infidelity.  Fur- 
thermore, history  shows  that  where  the  real  spirit  of 
Roman  Catholicism  sways  a  people,  the  general  trend  of 
the  better  intellects  is  toward  infidelity.  And  don't  forget 
this  important  fact;  whatever  degree  of  prosperity  may 
exist  in  France  (or  any  other  nation,  as  for  that  matter) 
that  prosperity  was  brought  about  by  the  principles  of  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  matters  not  whether  those  prin- 
ciples were  carried  into  effect  by  Christians  or  infidels. 
Whatever  can  be  found  in  Infidel  France  that  is  good  and 
noble,  that  is  worthy  our  respect  and  adoration,  depend 
upon  it,  the  gospel  of  Christ  teaches  that. 

History  shows  that  ''  where  France,  under  the  influence 
ot  Romanism,  had  set  up  the  first  stake  at  the  opening  of 
the  Reformation,  there  the  Revolution  set  up  its  first  guil- 
lotine" under  the  influence  of  infidelity.  '*0n  the  very 
spot  where  the  first  martyrs  to  the  Protestant  faith  were 
burned  in  the  sixteenth  century,"  under  the  influence  of 
Romanism,  "the  first  victims  were  guillotined  in  the 
eighteenth"  under  the  influence  of  infidelity. 

True,  in  the  Revolution,  they  stormed  their  infuriated 
vengeance  in  a  degree  upon  Romanists,  millionaires  and 
corrupt  politicians  who  were  sorely  oppressing  them  ( and 
we  cannot  blame  the  revolutionists  so  much  as  their  op- 
pressui^)  yet  revolutionary  company  fought  revolutionary 
compau}  France  was  made  an  immense  territory  of  up- 
roaring  multitudes,  swerved  in  paths  of  anarchy  and  riot 
by  their  violently  irnlalcd  passions,  an  :  tiie  inhabitants  of 
the  city  of  Paris  stood  aghast  at  the  deadly  work  of  the 
iiiinierous  divisions  that  took  place  among  themselves  until 
it  apneared  a^  tlioutyh  thev  could  not  be  satisfied  with  anv- 
thing  less  than  reciprocal  destruction.     Of  all  the  divisions 


# 


Vj 


of  the  city,  every  company  was  against  every  company, 
and  every   company  seemed  determined  to  kill  every  other 

company. 

What  think  you  of  IngersolPs  model  and  prosperous 
infidel  country?  What  think  you  of  France'  Infidel  In- 
telligence? 


/ 


r 


(58) 


(59) 


x 


> 


< 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ANALYSIS   OF   INGERSOLL'S  GOSPEL  OF  INTELLIGENCE. 


Crime  a  Mistake — Every  Good  Thing  in  His  Gospel  Taken  from 
Gospel  of  Christ— Difference  in  Worldly  and  True  Wisdom — 
Ingersoll  Shows  Same  Hypocrisy  Towards  and  Crucifies  the  Same 
Christ  as  Hypocrites  of  Old. 


The  undertaking  to  convert  the  world  to  political  and 
priestly  oppression,  with  chain  and  with  whip;  with  dun- 
geon and  sword:  with  ax  and  fagot,  w^as  not  by  men  who 
w^ere  unlearned,  ignorant  or  unintelligent;  but  by  the  men 
who  were  universally  acknowledged  to  have  the  most  learn- 
ing and  the  best  intellects  in  the  land.  What,  then,  was 
lacking?  True  piety.  •  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Reason  was  not  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Those 
crimes  took  place,  not  in  the  dark  ages,  not  at  a  time  in 
which  scientists  were  unknown  in  that  land;  but  during  an 
illustrious  period  when  science  and  human  skill  were  tilled 
and  cultured;  when  the  printing  press  was  doing  a  good 
work;  and  when  the  ministers  of  Catholicism,  of 
law  and  of  politics,  who  were  the  leaders  in  the  awful 
crimes,  were  noted  for  their  learning,  their  oratory,  their 
eloquence  and  their  intelligence.     So  it   was  in  the  great 

(60) 


V 


^ 


f 


■I 


Infidel  Revolution,  the  leaders  in  those  gigantic  riots  were 
noted  for  their  learning  and  intelligence.  The  greater  the 
intelligence  of  a  person  the  greater  the  evil  he  will  accom- 
plish if  he  takes  that  course. 

Ingersoll's  "Gospel  of   Intelligence,"  you  see,  which 
he  says  *' must  be  the  savior  of  this  world,''   being   ''the 
only  lever  capable  of  raising  mankind"  is   ''weighed  in 
the  balances  and  found  wanting."     Mere  intelligence  falls 
far  short  of  making  anything  like  a  complete  gospel.     Yet 
"  Give  us  intelligence"  he  says,  and   "in  a  little  while  a 
man  will  find  that  he  cannot  steal  without  robbing  himself. 
He  will  find  that  he  cannot  murder  without   assassinating 
his  own  joy.     He  will  find  that  every  crime  is  a  mistake." 
From   time  immemorial  the  very   people  that    this  man 
Ingersoll  pronounces  superstitious,  unlearned,  unscientific 
and  unintelligent,  idiotic  and  insane,  have  been  preaching 
those  very  things,  namely:  that  men  cannot  rob,  murder 
or  commit  any  kind  of  crime   without    injuring  self  and 
bringing  sorrow  and  displeasure  upon   self,  and  "assassi- 
nating his  own  joy,"  for  that  is  a  part  of  Christ's  gospel  ; 
and  now  Mr.  Ingersoll  comes  forth  after  these  mam  cen- 
turies and  tells  us  that  it  is  his  "gospel  of  intelligence." 
What  folly  is  this  !     What  nonsense  indeed,  to  come  li<>in 
the  lips  of  a  man    who    poses   as    an    intellectual    ^iani  : 
Publishers  who  have  printed  books  purporting  to  contain 
Ingersoll's    lectures,    doing    him    an    injusUce,    he  calls 
wretches,    literary  thieves  and  pirates;  but    in    wliat    lie 
calls  his  gospel,  there  is  not  a  good  thing  to  be  loim^l  Liit 
he  has  taken  from  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  of  course 
he  is  no  wretch,  literary  thief  nor  pirate. 

Read  this.  Re-read  it.  Meditate  upon  it.  Some  of 
the  more  unintelligent  people  are  much  more  seii>iti\  e  to 
all  wrong-doing,  and  are  much  more  careful  not  to  do 
wrong  than  some  of   our  brightest  and  most  iiitAiitcuial 

(61) 


\ 


people.  And  many  of  the  smarter  ones  look  down  upon 
a  righteous  person  and  say,  ^'  He  donH  amount  to  much, 
he  is  too  good  and  honest."  Intelligence  and  education 
of  a  worldly  nature  do  not  make  righteousness. 

**  In  a  little  while,  "  he  says,  *^men  will  find  these 
things  out."  Poor,  miserable  humanity  !  I  wonder  where 
he  will  leave  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  of  us.  '*  In 
a  little  while  ^'  !  Thank  God  we  have  not  to  wait  for 
Robert's  **  savior.'*  No,  no,  our  Savior  does  not  put  us 
off  till  some  future  time.  Our  Savior  does  not  say,  **Get 
learning  and  I  will  save  you."  He  does  not  say,  *'Get  an 
education  and  then  I  will  save  you."  He  does 'not  say, 
''Develop  into  intellectual  men  and  women  and  then  I  will 
save  you."  He  never  said,  ''Develop  into  a  logician  and  a 
philosopher  and  then  I  will  save  you."  But  he  did  say, 
"  I  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  be- 
cause thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent, 
and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes.''  These  things? 
What  things?  The  mysteries  of  godliness.  Paul  has 
well  expressed  it :  ''Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness." 
Paul  has  also  spoken  correctly  of  these  babes  of  whom 
Christ  speaks,  as  "  Ministers  of  Christ,  and  stewards  of  the 
mysteries  of  God."  The  mighty  workings  of  the  myste- 
ries of  godliness  have  been  wrought,  largely,  by  those 
whom  the  world  have  not  counted  very  wise  or  intelligent. 
As  Paul  said  to  the  Corinthians :  "Ye  see  your  calling, 
brethren,  how  that  not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not 
many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called.  But  God  hath 
chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the 
wise ;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world 
to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty  ;  and  base  things 
of  the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God 
chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to  naught 
things    that    are :       That    no   flesh    should    glory    in    his 

(62; 


> 


\ 


\ 


\ 


presence.  But  of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God 
is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctifi- 
cation,  and  redemption."  There,  you  see,  is  a  wisdom 
that  is  worth  something.  That  will  stand  the  test  of  time 
and  of  eternity.  That  is  the  wisdom  that  means  righteous- 
ness, sanctification,  and  redemption — when  ?  "  In  a  little 
while?"  No.  After  we  have  become  scientific?  Nu. 
After  we  have  become  educated  and  highly  intelligent  ? 
No.  Our  Savior  says:  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor, 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest ;  take  my 
yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly 
of  heart ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls."  And  a 
meek  and  lowly  Jesus  is  the  only  kind  thai  could  possibly 
have  accomplished  his  mission  as  a  Savior  to  this  world. 
Had  he  paraded  his  worldly  science,  wisdom  and  intelli- 
gence, his  mission  to  a  perishing  world  would  have  been  a 

failure. 

Ingersoll  says  he  wants  "it  so  that  when  a  poor 
woman  rocks  the  cradle  and  sings  a  lullaby  to  the  dimpled 
darling,  she  will  not  be  compelled  to  believe  that  ninety- 
nine  chances  out  of  a  hundred  she  is  raising  kindling  wood 
for  hell."  But  if  Christ's  gospel  were  like  his,  which  savs, 
"  Come  unto  me  you  who  have  large  intellects,  who  have 
a  great  education  and  have  become  philosophical  and 
scientific,"  then  certainly  more  than  nineiy-nine  out  ui 
every  hundred  of  our  dear  mothers,  these  centuries  |>.ist 
would  have  known  that  they  were  raising  kindling  wood 
for  hell.  But  our  Savior  is  not  the  one  to  pui  us  off  because 
we  have  small  intellectual  faculties.  Listen  to  the  call  ! 
"  Ho  !  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  water, 
and  he  that  hath  no  money  ;  come  ye,  buy,  and  eat  ;  \  ea, 
come,  buy  without  money  and  without  price, '^  for  saitli 
He:  "  I  am  the  bright  and  morning  star.  And  the  spirit 
and  the  bride  say,  come.     And  let  him  that    heareth  sav, 

(63) 


come.     And  whosoever  will,  let  liiin  take  the  water  of  life 

freely/' 

Talk  about  intelligence,  wisdom  ?  That  exceedingly 
wise  and  intelligent  man  highly  exalts  wisdom  and  under- 
standing ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  his  proverbs  he  says, 
^'The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  knowledge,'' 
and  he  repeats  it  in  the  ninth  chapter  :  ''  The  fear  of  the 
Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom."  Surely  Solomon  was 
well  prepared  to  speak  thus,  for  in  the  beginning  of  his 
great  career  he  feared  the  Lord,  and  God  made  him  the 
wisest  of  men,  so  ''  There  came  of  all  people  to  hear  the 
wisdom  of  Solomon,  from  all  kings  of  the  earth,  which 
had  heard  of  his  wisdom."     Seel  Kings,   3:5-15;    and 

I  Kings,  4:29-34. 

Hear  now  the  testimony  of  another  great  leader  in 
Israel,  found  in  the  119  Psalm  :  ^'  O  how  I  love  thy  law  ! 
it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day.  Thou  through  thy  com- 
mandments hast  made  me  wiser  than  mine  enemies.  I 
have  more  understanding  than  all  my  teachers  :  "  Why? 
''  For  thy  testimonies  are  my  meditation.  I  understand 
more  than  the  ancients."  Why?  ^^  Because  I  keep  thy 
precepts.  Through  thy  precepts  I  get  understanding. 
How  sweet  are  thy  words  unto  my  taste  !  yea,  sweeter 
than  honey  to  my  mouth."  And  a  truth  worth  consider- 
ino-  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  miraculous  operating  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  soul  of  man  stirs  every  fiber  m  his 
being,  and  an  earnest  prayerful  study  of  the  Bible  tends  to 
powerfully  enlarge  the  intellect  (speaking  even  from  the 
standpoint  of  logic,  and  intelligence)  and  the  true  spirit 
thereof   leads   that   logic   and    intelligence   into  paths  of 

godliness. 

The  Jews,  you  know,  wanted  a  sign  ;  and  during 
Paul's  great  work  Gieece  was  the  most  noted  country  in 
the  world  in  science  and  philosophy,  hence  it  is  that  Paul 

(64) 


> 


4 


s 


^ 


says  in  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  ''  The  Jews  require  a 
sign,  and  the  Greeks  seek  after  wisdom  :  But  we  preach 
Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling  block,  and 
unto  the  Greeks  foolishness." 

Christ  *'  sent  me,"  says  Paul,  ''to  preach  the  gospel: 
not  with  wisdom  of  words,  lest  the  cross  of  Christ  should 
be  made  of  no  effect.  For  the  preaching  of  the  cross  is  to 
them  that  perish,  foolishness;  but  unto  us  which  are 
saved,  it  is  the  power  of  God.  For  it  is  written,  I  will 
destroy  the  wisdom  of  the  wise,  and  will  bring  to  nothing 
the  understanding  of  the  prudent.  Where  is  the  wise? 
Where  is  the  scribe?  Where  is  the  disputer  of  this  world? 
Hath  not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world? 
For  after  that  in  the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom 
knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preach- 
ing to  save  them  that  believe, 

''  And  I,  brethren,  when  I  came  unto  you,  came  not 
with  excellency  of  speech,  or  of  wisdom,  declaring  unto 
you  the  testimony  of  God.  For  I  determined  not  to  know 
anything  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified. 
And  my  speech  and  my  preaching  was  not  with  enticing 
words  of  man's  wisdom ;  but  in  demonstration  of  the 
spirit,  and  of  power.  That  your  faith  should  not  stand  in 
the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God.  Howbeit, 
we  speak  wisdom  among  them  that  are  perfect :  yet  not 
the  wisdom  of  this  world,  that  comes  to  naught:  But  we 
speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery  which  none  of  the 
princes  of  this  world  knew  ;  for  had  they  known  it,  they 
would  not  have  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory." 

IngersoU  tells  us  that  the  life  of  this  Jesus;  whom  we 
call  ''  the  Lord  of  glory,"  "  was  destroyed  by  h\  pocntes, 
who  have  in  all  ages,  done  what  they  could  to  trample 
freedom  and  manhood  out  of  the  human  mind."  We  all 
believe  in ''honor  to  whom  honor  is  due,"    and   so   must 

V65) 


exclaim,  all  credit  toliim  for  an  honest  statement  !     Trne, 
the  life  of  Christ  was  destroyed  by  hypocrites,  and  bear  in 
mind,  those  hypocrites,  accordino^  to  both  sacred  and  pro- 
fane history  were  ' '  princes  of  this  world. ' '     They  were  able 
scholars,  efficient  in  knowledge,  and  highly   intelligent; 
bnt  they  were  hypocrites  just  the  same,  and  their  wisdom — 
intelligence — came    to    naught.      And    why?      Because 
their  wisdom,  like  Ingersoll's,  was  the  ^'wisdom   of  this 
world,''   and    they    used    it    for   purely    selfish    purposes. 
Their  learning  and  intelligence  did  not  save  them.     Their 
education  and  worldly  wisdom  did  not  make  them  merciful, 
and  kind,  and  good.     Nay,  their  very  intelligence,  worldly 
wisdom,  was  the  cause  of  their  crucifying  the  Son  of  God. 
Why  such  merciless,  cruel,   and  selfish   wisdom?     It  was 
of  a  sensual,  worldly  nature.     It   was  not  sanctified  by 
divine  grace.     Had  they  but /opened  their  minds  as  a  re- 
ceptacle of  the   mysterious  wisdom   which  cometh   from 
above,  we  are  told  that  '^  they  would  not  have  crucified  the 
Lord   of  Glory."     But  in  the  natural  state  their  minds 
could  not  be  made  a  receptacle   for  the  wisdom  of  right- 
eousness because   ^*The  carnal  mind  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God."     Their  minds  were  in  perfect  accord  with  Mr. 
Ingersoll's  inasmuch  as  ^^  The  natural  man  receiveth  not 
the  things  of  the  Spirit  of   God:    for  they  are  foolishness 
unto  him."     Their  minds  were  in  perfect  accord  with  In- 
gersoll's inasmuch  as  their  blackest  hypocrisy  lay  in  the 
same  fact,  namely:  they   warred   against  the  real   under- 
lying principles  of  Christianity  without  testing  Christian- 
ity for  themselves.     Yes,  Ingersoll's  mind  is  in  perfect  ac- 
cord with  the  hypocrites  who  took  the  life  of  Christ  inas- 
much as  he  crucifies  the  same  Jesus  that  they  crucified. 

He  says,  ''For  the  man  Christ  I  have  infinite  re- 
spect. To  that  great  and  serene  man  I  pay,  I  gladly 
pay,    the  tribute  of  my  admiration  and  my   tears.      He 

(66) 


( 


< 


was  regarded  as  a  blasphemer"  etc.      ''  That,"  he  says,  'Ms 
for  the  man."     But  ''for  the  theological  creation  I  have  a 
different  feeling."     Then  he  goes  on  with  a  little  nonsense 
which  he  considers  proof  against  the   Divinity   of   Christ, 
that  he  was  nothing  more  than  a   man.     What  said  Pilate 
when  the  chief  priests    (princes)    in  company   with   tlie 
multitudes   visciously,    and    derisively,    and    vehemently 
cried,  "  Crucify  him?  "      He  said  the  same  that  Ingersoll 
now  says,  ^' I  find  no  fault  in  this  man."     Notice  now, 
^4n  this  man."        Pilate  did  not  ask  him,  "Hast  thou  all 
power  in  heaven  and  earth?"     He  did  not  ask  him,  ''  Art 
thou  equal  with    God?"    nor   any   of  those   things.     He 
simply  asked  him,  "Art  thou  the  king  of  the  Jews?"   re- 
f erring  simply  to  a  political  leader  of  an  earthly  kingdom. 
But  Christ  had  said:  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one.     I  am  the 
light  of  the  world .     I  am  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life. 
I  am  the  Son  of  God."     Then  was  it  that  they  called  him 
a  hypocrite.     It  was  the  Christ  who  said  these  things  that 
they  called  the  blasphemer.     It  is  the  Christ  who  claims 
those  things  of  himself  that  Ingersoll  calls  a  hypocrite 
and  a  blasphemer.     It  was  the  Christ  who  claimed  to  be 
sent  by  the  Father  as  a  divine  offering  for  us,  that  thev 
crucified,  and  it  is  the  same  Christ  that  Mr.  Ingersoll  cruci- 
fies.    Here  is  what  he  says  in  speaking  of  what  the  Pres- 
byterian church  teaches:      "That  church  teaches  i hat  in- 
finite Innocence  was  sacrificed  for  me."     And  then  he  de- 
liberately adds,  "  I  do  not  want  it."    Jesus  Christ,  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God,  is  the  "Infinite  Innocence"  iiiai  hv 
speaks  of  as  being  "sacrificed  for  me"  and  which  he  upmlv 
and  willfully  rejects,  saying,  "  I  do  not  want  it." 

When  this  Jesus  said,  "I  am  the  Son  of  God,  still  to 
save  the  lost,"  the  hypocrites  who  took  his  life  cried,  -blas- 
phemer." When  this  Jesus  says,  "I,  Infinite  Innocence 
do  give  myself  a  ransom   (sacrifice  myself)   for  von,   dc- 

(67) 


praved  and  wicked  man,"  Ingersoll  answers,  ''  Imposter  ! 
I  do  not  want  you."  I  fail,  therefore,  to  see  the  consis- 
tency in  telling'  us  that  those  who  took  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ  were  ''hypocrites  who  have,  in  all  ages,  done  what 
they  could  to  trample  freedom  and  manhood  out  of  the 
human  mind,"  when  he,  at  the  sound  of  ''I  am  the  Son 
of  God  "  or  any  intimation  that  Christ  was  more  than  man, 
or  that  he  was  vested  with  divine  power,  pronounces  him 
the  same  fake  that  hypocrites  of  old  did;  and  then  set 
himself  upas  a  model  of  logic  and  intelligence  and  honesty. 
I  would  like  to  see  him  harmonize  such  plain  contradic- 
tions. I  frankly  admit  that  it  would  require  the  logic  of  a 
most  gigantic  intellect. 


^ 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


ANALYSIS  OF    INGERSOLL'S    GOSPEL    OF    INTELLIGENCE 

CONTINUED. 


Blasphemy  —  Dungeon    of    Mind  —  Traitors— Liberty — "  Men    Loved 

Darkness." 


} 


Speaking  of  blasphemy  he  says:  ''Priests  liave  iii-^ 
vented  a  crime  called  blasphemy,  aii«l  l)iiini(l  that  crime 
hypocrisy  has  crouched  for  tliousands  of  years.  There  is 
but  one  blasphemy,  and  that  is  injustice.  There  is  but 
one  worship,  and  that  is  justice.'' 

All  blasphemy  is  injustice  1)iil  all  injustice  is  not 
blasphemy.  Lay  religion  and  the  Bible  right  one  side. 
Acknowledge  the  moralii\-  and  justice  that  Ingersoll  talks 
about,  ti)  1'L  ins  gospel  just  as  he  calls  it.  Preach  it  to  the 
most  degraded  and  vilest  of  sinners.  They  will  come  to  a 
point  in  their  li\'cs  wIr-u   ihev  will    accept   or   reject   once 

and  forever. 

:\ietn\    there  are  who  liave  been  conscious  of  having 
arrived    at  a  criticai    nionient   m  their  life,   a  moment  in 
)\c\\  they  knew  by  the  ^\sacred  light''  of  reason,  inspira- 


v«  •  I 


(68) 


I'.ou  and  conscience,  llial  they  must  decide,  for  all  time  be- 

(69; 


tween  justice  and  injustice,  between  morality  and  immor- 
ality. Some  have  treated  unjustly  that  sacred  light  at  the 
critical  moment  and  have  never  again  realized  the  power 
and  ability  of  reforming.  Are  not  these  facts  evidence 
enough  for  any  rational  being  that  blasphemy  is  not  a 
priestly  invention,  but  a  stern  reality,  a  fact  in  nature, 
in  perfect  accord  with  that  "gospel  of  justice,''  as  he  him- 
self calls  it,  that  "We  must  reap  what  we  sow?" 

Speaking  of  reason  and  freedom  of  thought,  he  says: 
"Fear  is  the  dungeon  of  the  mind,  and  you  need  not  fear 
the  anger  of  a  God  that  you  cannot  injure.  Courage  is 
liberty.  Only  those  are  traitors  who  resort  to  brute  force. 
Do  not  imagine  that  there  is  any  being  who  would  give 
to  his  children  the  holy  torch  of  reason,  and  then  damn 
them  for  following  that  sacred  light.'' 

True,  a  mind  in  fear  is  in  a  dungeon,  but  fear  alone 
is  anything  but  a  good  definition  for  "  dungeon-of-the- 
mind."  Guilt  (a  guilty  conscience)  is  the  "dungeon  of 
the  mind."  What  deeper  hell,  what  blacker  dungeon  can 
t1ie  mind  be  in  than  when  lashed  wath  the  galling  stripes 
of  guilt?  Men  are  afraid  to  come  face  to  face  with  God, 
not  because  they  fear  God,  because  thev  think  He  is  a 
tyrant,  unmerciful  and  unkind;  but  because  of  their  guilt. 
Sin  is  what  makes  men  afraid  and  forces  the  mind  into  a 
dungeon-hell.  A  real  Christian  has  nothing  t  >  it  ar.  Tlie 
unrepentant  sinner  is  not  afraid  Liiat  God  will  hriiu^  hiiii 
to  an  unjust  judgment;  but  he  is  afraid  of  his  own  iiitu  r 
conscience.  He  is  afraid  of  himself.  He  kimw-  iliit  God 
is  acquainted  w^iih  hi^  ever\'  thought,  word,  inlcnli<>n,  de- 
sire, act  and  deed,  and  is  afraid  not  of  God;  l)ul  ut  liis  real 
self.  He  1^  nut  afraid  lliai  hi>  Crt-alor  will  dn  Inni  in- 
justice; bnt  he  is  afraid  tliat  his  inst  deserts  will  '  •  --  k.j 
out  to  him. 


(70) 


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'% 


J 


Wrong  your  neighbor  to-day  and  you  do  not  care  any- 
thing about  meeting  him  to-morrow  unless  you  are  really 
penitent   for   the   wrong.     Why?      What's   the   matter? 

Guilt. 

Thieves,  robbers,  murderers,  adulterers,  liars,  are 
walking  in  society  among  men.  While  committing  their 
inhumanly  and  treacherous  deeds  how  on  the  alert  are 
they  !  What's  the  matter?  Guilt.  At  the  slightest  sorrnd. 
they  are  all  unnerved  !  Every  fiber  of  their  being  is  thrown 
into  active  motion  !  Every  nerve  is  set  vibratin.o:  and  they 
are  afraid!  What's  the  matter*:^  Guilt.  Sm  nnikes 
the  "  dungeon  of  the  mind."  In  their  every-day  walk  if 
they  see  an  officer  coming  towards  them  they  are  afraid. 


Point  your  finger  towards  them  and  they  are  in  trond 
What's  the  matter?  Guilt.  If  they  see  you  talkin-  with 
somebody  as  in  secret  and  you  look  towards  them  iIk y  are 
in  trouble.  At  the  sound  of  a  wagon  they  are  startled  fur 
fear  the  officer  is  on  their  track.  What's  ili.  niatur.^ 
•  Guilt  sin.  He  is  afraid  of  that  "gospel  of  justice,'^  wliicli 
Ingersoll  claims  to  feelieve  in,  that  "We  nni^t  reap  what 
we  sow."  *  Yes,  Wrong-doing  makes  the  "dungeon,  m  the 

mind."  - 

How    strikingly  has  the  great  poet  portrayed   these 

truths ! 

^'  Stand  still,  my  soul,  in  the  silent  dark, 

I  would  question  thee. 
Alone  in  the  shadow  drear  and  stark 

With  God  and  me. 

Wiial,  niv  sonl,  was  lliv  i-nand  lierer 

W^as  it  mirth  and  ease, 
Or  iieapnig  11])  dust  from  year  to  year? 

"  Nay,  none  <>t  these!  "  • 


What  liast  thou  done,  O  soul  of  mine, 

That  thou  tremblest  so  ? 
Hast  thou  wrought  His  task,  and  kept  the  line 

He  bade  thee  go  ? 

Back  to  thyself  is  measured  well 

All  thou  hast  given; 

Thy  neighbor's  wrong  is  thy  present  hell, 

His  bliss,  thy  heaven. '^ 

Whit  tier. 

All  these  things  Mr.  Ingersoll  really  acknowledges 
on  page  86  of  his  lecture.  He  says:  *^  Give  us  intelligence. 
In  a  little  while  a  man  will  find  that  he  cannot  steal  with- 
out robbing  himself,  murder  without  assassinating  his  own 
joy,  and  that  every  crime  is  a  mistake.''  That  is  good. 
The  simplicity  lies  in  his  calling  for  intelligence  and  then 
manifesting  so  little  of  it  himself.  He  calls  it  his  gospel. 
**My  gospel.  My  gospel.  My  gospel;  My  doctrine,  My 
My  doctrine,''  he  says  time  after  time  on  that  same  page. 
As  though  he  were  preaching  something  new,  of  his  own 
manufacture.  As  though  all  ministers  did  not  now  and 
had  not  always  preached  that.  God  gave  that  to  Moses 
on  Mount  Sinai.  Jesus  Christ  preached  it  all  his  life  time. 
Yea!  the  vilest  of  sinners  preach  it. 

And  then  notice  he  says,  ^'^ In  a  little  while  ^^  men 
will  find  out  those  things.  As  though  men  did  not  know 
it  already.  Yea,  men  have  acknowledged  it  ever  since 
man  was  created,  ^ '  their  conscience  bearing  them  witness. ' ' 

' '  My  gospel, "  ^^  In  a  little  while. ' '  How  silly  I 
How  devoid  of  all  reason  and  truth!  I 

Then  the  idea  that  we  cannot  do  God  an  injustice  ! 
If  I  were  to  go  into  Mr.  Ingersoll's  home  and  do  some 
mischief  and  injure  his  family  he  would  say  that  I  was  in- 
juring him.      In  some  of  his  arguments   he   acknowledges 

(72) 


( 


V 


y 


\ 


that  God  is  our  maker,  that  we  are  his  creatures,  and  that 
being  a  fact,  it  is  anything  but  intelligent  to  say  tluii  we 
can  injure  God's  creatures,  our  fellowmen,  without  doing 
God  an  injustice. 

Then  the  way  and  the  place  in  which  he  has  put  in, 
*'  Courage  is  liberty,"  gives  us  plainly  to  understand  that 
courage  is  salvation ;  but  intelligence  certainly  does  not 
teach  that.  Everybody  is  courageous  in  some  directions. 
He  tells  us,  referring  to  Catholicism,  that  for  years, 
''Those  who  plowed  divided  with  those  who  prayed. 
Wicked  industry  supported  pious  idleness,  the  hut  gave  to 
the  cathedral,  and  frightened  poverty  gave  even  its  rags  to 
buy  a  robe  for  hypocrisy."  Now  if  his  "  Courage  is  lib- 
erty "  then  the  leaders  in  that  terrible  wickedness  had  true 
liberty  and  their  souls  are  now  saved,  because  they  cer- 
tainly had  courage. 

He  tells  us  further:  "Thousands  of  volumes  could 
not  contain  the  crimes  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Thous- 
ands and  thousands  have  perished  in  dungeons  and  in  fire. 
Millions  have  suffered  agonies."  And  yet  if  his  Cour- 
age is  liberty,"  be  true,  then  the  perpetrators  of  tliose 
untold  crimes  and  agonies  were  men  of  great  freedom  an  i 
liberty.  In  other  words,  they  enjoyed  a  saving  relii^iuii, 
because  it  took  large  intelligence  and  great  courage  for 
the  few  to  successfully  carry  out  such  gigantic  schemes 
against  the  many. 

The  oppressors  of  the  poor  to-day  are  intelligent  and 
courageous.  Robbers  and  murderers  have  a  great  deal  of 
courage,  of  a  certain  kind,  or  they  could  not  take  llie 
course  they  do  against  civil  law,  against  di\  iiie  law  and 
against  conscience.  If  ''  Courage  is  liberty'^  then  liquor 
dealers  mnst  be  blessed  with  ^reat  lil)ert\%  for  it  niiist  re- 
quire a  large  amount  of  courage  thus  tc  leal  out  that 
liquid  fire  that  is  the  source  of  so  much   w  relchedness  and 


s 


\ 


causes  at  least  seven-tenths  of  the  crimes  and  murders  com- 
mitted in  the  land. 

Since  having  written  the  above,  the  awful  lynching 
of  a  murderer,  Sam  Hose,  took  place  in  one  of  the  south- 
ern states.  When  reading  the  account  of  it  in  the  New 
York  Journal  I  noticed  an  article  written  by  Ingersoll  on 
the  subject,  and  again  I  found  him  announcing  his  theory 
that  *^  Courage  is  liberty.''  He  said  :  **  One  man  draws 
his  knife,  and  in  a  spirit  of  merry  sport  cuts  off  one  of  the 
ears  of  the  victim.  This  he  keeps  as  a  trophy — souvenir. 
Another  gentleman,  fond  of  jest,  cuts  off  the  other  ear. 
Another  cuts  off  the  nose  of  the  chained  and  helpless 
wretch.  The  victim  suffered  in  silence.  He  uttered  no 
groan,  no  word — the  one  man  of  the  two  thousand  who 
had  courage."  That  man  was  a  wilful  murderer;  he  did 
not  deny  it,  he  frankly  acknowledged  it ;  so  if  Ingersoll's 
gospel  that  *'  Courage  is  liberty  "  be  true,  that  wilful,  un- 
repentant murderer  (I  say  unrepentant  because  he  said  to 
the  last  that  he  did  not  regret  having  killed  the  man)  was 
the  only  free  man  of  the  two  thousand.      What  a  gospel  ! 

**  Only  those  are  traitors  who  resort  to  brute  force?  " 
There  is  not  a  particle  of  reason  in  such  a  statement. 
Nobody  will  attempt  to  deny  that  Judas  Iscariot  was  the 
biggest  traitor  that  ever  lived.  Neither  will  anybody  at- 
tempt toafhrmthat  he  resorted  to  brute  force.  There  have 
been  traitors  in  times  of  war.  Some  of  the  most  success- 
ful ones  did  not  resort  to  brute  force  at  all. 

Men  go  into  business  together  and  it  often  turns  out 
that  one  betrays  the  other  and  proves  a  traitor — by  resort- 
ino-  to  brute  force?  Not  as  a  rule.  Collect  vour  senses 
and  think  of  those  whom  you  have  known  wlio  have  be- 
trayed their  kind  friends — by  resorting  to  brute  force?  No. 
Employees  in  stores  and  banks,  etc.,  have  often  betrayed 
their  employers  and  relieved  them  of  a   few  hundred  and 


w 


< 


even  thousands  of  dollars— by  resorting  to  brute  force? 

No,  seldom. 

In  conclusion:  There  is  not  one  of  us  but  has  been 
betrayed  on  a  larger  or  smaller  scale.  Somebody  has  play- 
ed treason  and  proved  a  traitor  in  affairs  in  the  life  of  every 
one  of  us — by  resorting  to  brute  force?     No. 

I  tell  you  if  the  only  traitors  we  had  to  contend  with 
were  those  who  resorted  to  brute  force  this  world  would 
be  a  paradise  in  comparison  to  what  it  is. 

That  word,  treason,  tells  the  story  of  all  that  is  wrong, 
of  all  iniquity,  of  every  type  and  form  and  degree.  That 
word,  traitorship,  tells  the  story  of  all  the  fault  that  can  be 
found  with  this  world  to-day,  or  that  could  ever  be  found 
with  it.  Traitorship  through  "  brute  force  "  ?  No.  Dis- 
pel from  earth  all  treason  planned  and  executed  without 
brute  force,  and  all  brute  force  traitorship  would  be  com- 
pelled to  retire  with  it,  and  earth  would  be  turned  to  heaven; 
because  all  brute  force  traitorship  is  only  a  physical,  beastly 
execution  of  a  traitorship  previously  planned  and  execut- 
ed in  the  mind. 

Don't  imagine  that  "God  gives  us  the  holy  torch 
light  of  reason,  and  then  damns  us  for  following  that 
sacred  light' '  ?  No,  no,  Mr.  Ingersoll,  play  not  the  traitor, 
and  you  will  frankly  acknowledge  that  you  know  we  never 
said  nor  thought  such  a  thing.  Men  are  damned  because 
they  don't  follow  that  "sacred  light."  We  get  i»i) 
trouble  and  condemnation  for  betraying  that  "  sacrea 
light  "  I  tell  you  if  we  will  but  follow  the  adnionitior.  ut 
Jesus  Christ  regarding  that  light  we  will  have  no  cause  to 
complain.     It  is  this:     "Take   heed  that  the  \w\n   .vlr.c!-. 


is 


thee  be  not  darkness."     And  here  is  what  he  says 


IS 


refuse   to 


sure  to    follow  if  we  play  the  traitor  with  anc 

follow  that  holy  -torch-light."      ^  If  therefore   lb.    light 

that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness  1  " 

(75) 


(74) 


The  best  and  only  reason  ever  yet  given  for  men  re- 
fusing to  follow  the  light,  is  found  in  the  Bible:  **And 
this  is  the  condemnation  "  (^'dungeon  of  mind"  if  you 
please  )  *'Men  love  darkness  rather  than  light,  because 
their  deeds  are  evil.  For  everyone  that  doeth  evil  hateth 
the  light,  neither  conieth  to  the  light,  lest  their  deeds 
should  be  reproved." 


/ 


i 


CHAPTER  IX. 


X 


ANALYSIS  OF   INGERSOLL'S   GOSPEL  OF   INTELLLIGENCE 

CONTINUED. 


He  Read  Testament — Admits  Need  of  Forgiveness  Number  Times, 
Denies  it  as  Many — Can  We  Be  Unjust  to  God  ? — He  Says,  *'  No 
Bankrupt  Court  in  Next  World,  Every  Cent  Must  Be  Paid  " — 
The  Injured  Girl — Never  Happy  as  Though  Had  Not  Sinned  ? — 
His  Gospel  Incomplete. 


) 


•  j' 


\ 


(76) 


Ingersoll  says  in  his  lecture,  "  A  while  ago  I  made  up 
my  mind  to  find  out  what  was  necessary  for  me  to  do  in 
order  to  be  saved." 

*' For  thousands  of  years,"  he  remarks,  ''the  world 
had  been  asking  that  question:  " 

'' What  must  we  do  to  be  saved  ?  " 

Then  he  asks,  "  Saved  from  poverty?"  And  he  an- 
swers, ''No."  But  the  Bible  and  all  creation  answers, 
"  Yes!  "  "  Saved  from  crime?"  and  he  answers,  "  No." 
But  the  Bible  and  humanity  answers,  "Yes!  "  "  Saved 
from  tyranny ?"  and  he  answers,  "No."  But  the  Bible 
and  human  nature  answers,  "Yes!"  Then  he  answers 
what  to  be  saved  from  :  "From  tlie  eternal  wrath  of  the 
God  who  made  us  all."  How  unreasonable!  Let  liim 
come  to  Jesus  and  be  saved  and  he  will  get  soniew  hai  rid 

ill) 


of  that  idea.  He  will  see  that  we  believe  in  being  saved 
from  crime  and  tyranny,  that  is  to  say,  saved  from  our  sins, 
and  from  the  effects  of  the  sins  of  all.  He  would  see  that 
we  believe  in  being  saved  for  time  as  well  as  eternity;  saved 
to  make  the  worid  better  and  alleviate  human  suffering  of 
body  and  mind.  Saved,  not  only  for  eternal  felicity  in  the 
great  beyond  but  for  a  much  happier  life  here. 

He  says  that  he  read  the  gospels,  Matthew,  Mark, 
Luke  and  John  and  found  that  the  church  had  been  de- 
ceiving him,  that  they  did  not  understand  their  own  book. 
I  wonder  who  has  deceived  him  the  most,  the  church  or 
Robert  Ingersoll !  We  have  already  seen  some  of  his  un- 
derstanding  of  the  book;  but  we  will  see  more  of  it  yet. 
He  quotes  the  promises  : 

^'  For  if  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your  Heaven- 
ly Father  will  also  forgive  you;  but  if  you  forgive  not  men 
their  trespasses,  neither  will  your  Father  forgive  your 
trespasses."  Then  he  says:  '*  I  accept  the  condition. 
There  is  an  offer,  I  accept  it.  If  you  will  forgive  men  that 
trespass  against  you,  God  will  forgive  your  trespasses 
against  him.  I  accept  the  terms,  and  I  never  will  ask  any 
God  to  treat  me  better  than  I  treat  my  fellowmen." 

And  now  we  come  to  a  point  where  I  hardly  know 
what  to  say.  He  has  shown  his  colors  here  so  distinctly, 
that  I  must  confess  I  hardly  know  how  to  express  myself. 
Here  we  find  him,  acknowledging  himself  a  sinner 
before  God  and  accepting  these  conditions  of  forgiveness, 
while  back  on  page  13  of  his  lecture,  we  find  him  declar- 
ing that  ''  we  cannot  injure  God.'' 

If  we  cannot  do  God  an  injustice  what  have  we  lo  do 
with  God  anyway  ?  If  we  cannot  be  unjust  to  God,  why 
or  how  can  we  need  any  condition  of  forgiveness?  And 
yet  he  stronglv  affirms  that  he  accepts  these  leim.-  uii 
which  God    is^o    forgive   him.     This,  then,  is  a   plain 


i 


\ 


V 


; 


statement  that  he  believes  in  his  sins  against  God  and  that 
he  believes  it  necessary  to  implore  the  forgiveness  of  God, 
and  that  he  believes  the  Bible  is  a  message  from  God,  or 
he  could  not  accept  the  offer.     Then  I  turn  to  page  84,  in 
the  chapter  where  he  tells  what  he  proposes,  and  I  read, 
* '  I  do  not  believe  in  forgiveness  as  it  is  preached  by  the 
church.     We  do  not  need  the  forgiveness  of  God.''     Then 
I  turn  back  to  page  81   of  the  same   chapter,    and  T  read, 
*  *  I  do  not  destroy  the  promise  ;  if  you  will  forgive  others 
God  will  forgive  you."     Then  back  again  to  page  85,  and 
I  read  there,  ''  No  forgiveness  by  the  gods.''     You  see  if 
he  comes  to  a  point  where  by  saying  that  he  believes  in  a 
certain  thing  that  will  help  him  to  carry  his  argument  he 
says  he  believes  it.     Then  when   he    comes   to   a   point 
where  he  must  deny  the  same  thing  in  order  to  get  through 
his  argument  he  really  denies  or  rejects  the  idea  which  he 
has  just  been  falling  in  with.     *' Anything   for   argument 
just  at  the  moment  I  am  arguing  that   point,"   appears  to 
be  his  plan.     He  says  also,   *^  If  there  is   another   world, 
there  is  no  bankrupt  court  there  ;  every  cent  must  be  paid. ' ' 
To  illustrate  he  says  :   *'  If  I  by  slander,  cover  some  poor 
girl  with  the    leprosy  of   some  imputed   ciiiiie,   and    she 
withers  away  like  a  blighted   flower   and   aitt  1  wari  I  get 
the  forgiveness  of  God,  how    does  that   help    Ik  r  r     We 
have  got  to  settle  with  the  people  we  have  wroiigcd  liere." 
That's  no  new  idea.     That  is  both  law  and  gospel.      But 
what  I  want  to  make   doubly   impressive  upon  your  iiiiiir; 
just  now  is  that  he  says,   *' You  must  reap  the  le-ults  ui 
your  acts.      Every  cent  must  be  paid." 

Think,  now,  of  the  injury  done  this  poor  girl  just 
mentioned!!  Think  of  her  condition,  her  sulierinL^r  (,f 
body  and  mind  by  '^  withering  away  like  a  blighted 
flower"  under  that  ''  imputed  crime."  Tlie  weight  of  tliis 
injury  cannot  be  estimated  ;  but  that  makes  no  difierciice, 

V79^ 


''Every  cent  must  be  paid''  he  tells  us.     I  would  like  to 
know  how  he  is  going  to  work  to  pay  that  enormous  debt. 
So  enormous  is  it  that  it  cannot  be  estimated   in  weights 
or  measures  ;  still  *'  Every  cent  must  be  paid/'  and  yet  he 
has  nothing  to  pay  it  with.      (Here  you  see  he   acknowl- 
edges the    necessity   of   a   mediator — like   our   Lord   and 
Savior,  Jesus  Christ — whom  he  rejects,    and    vehemently 
denies  and  says  he  does  not  want.)     And  so  he  is  getting 
a  burden  upon  his  shoulders  that  must  remain  there,  if  his 
gospel  be  true,  for  time  and  for  eternity.     He  says,  "  For 
every  crime  you  commit  you  must  answer  to  yourself  and 
to  the  one  you  injure."     As  far  as  possible,  yes,  Brother 
Ingersoir  we  subscribe  to  that.     But   he   says,    "  If   you 
have  ever  clothed  another  with  woe,   as  with  a  garment  of 
pain  you  will  never  be  quite  as  happy  as  though  you  had 
not  done  that  thing."     What  a   predicament    to   be   in! 
We  must  pay  the  debt  and  suffer  for  it  too.     What  a  gos- 
pel to  contrive  !     We  "must   pay    every    cent"  and  then 
not  get  a  receipt.     He  has   manufactured  a  worse  gospel 
than  he  makes  out  the  old  one  to  be. 

They  say  to  him,  "What   do    you    propose"    after 
tearing  down  what  you  do?     i\nd  he  answers,  "I   have 
not  torn    the    good    down.     I    have   only    endeavored   to 
trample  out  the  ignorant,    cruel    fires   of   hell."     What? 
Why,  "Every  cent  must  be  paid,"  and  we  cannot  have  a 
receipt   then.      What   a   cruel   gospel  !       And,    he   says, 
"  Even  when  forgiven  by  the  one  you   have  injured  it  is 
not  as  though  the  injury  had  not  been  done.     Never   can 
be  quite  as  happy  as  though  we  had   not  sinned."     That 
is  anything  but  a  complete  gospel.     It  is  not  fitted   to  the 
needs  of  the  human  race.     That  is  a  more  cruel  God  f  if  a 
God  it  mav  be  called  than  he  makes  out  the  God  of  our 
gospel  to  he)  for  he  is  so  cruel  and  merciless  as  to  leave 
all  in  an  imperfect  state  of  happiness,   however  much  we 

(8o) 


^ 


may  desire  and  strive  for  a  fulj  restoration.  He  is  not 
even  merciful  enough  to  give  the  fallen  race  an  oppor- 
tunity to  return  to  the  lost  estate. 

But  our  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  need 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.".  Ah!  Ingersoll's 
gospel  is  weighed  in  the  balances  and  found  wanting  ! 

Now  in  the  case  of  this  poor  girl  that  he  has  spoktii 
of :  let  us  suppose  that  she  accepts  the  gospel  ;  but  heelings 
to  his  own.  He  beholds  her  "covered  with  the  leprosy 
of  his  imputed  crime."  He  sees  her  angrily  tossed  on  the 
seething  billows  of  the  ocean  of  sorrow  into  which  he  has 
flung  her  !  He  sees  this  fair  maid,  whose  prospects  for 
this  world  were  bright,  swallowed  up  by  the  cruel  waves 
of  his  "imputed  crime."  He  sees  her  "  wither  away  like 
a  blighted  flower."  Can  he  pay  the  debt?  No,  never. 
His  gospel  says,  "  Every  cent  must  be  paid,"  but  it  can't 
be  and  he  knows  it. 

This  poor  girl  accepts  the  gospel.  She  forgives  those 
that  trespass  against  her.  Her  own  sins  she  takes  lu  God, 
and  God  for  Christ's  sake  pardons  all  and  gives  her  the 
witness  of  His  Spirit  that  all  is  well  and  she  has  a  resK  a 
peace  that  passeth  understanding.  And  all  the  great  tkbt 
that  she  cannot  pay  is  brought  to  Christ  and  he  has  paid 
it  all,  and  her  deep-seated  peace  and  rest  of  soul  and  the 
witness  of  the  spirit  is  the  receipt  which  she  receives  to 
the  effect  that  the  debt  is  paid  and  so  she  is  certain  of  fnil 
and  perfect  restoration  to  her  lost  estate  there  to  be  as 
happy  as  though  sin  had  never  marred  her  hiiiio.  But 
Mr.  IngersoU  clings  to  his  own  gospel,  aiHi  lliis  ki  us 
suppose,  is  the  only  sin  of  which  he  is  ^mhw  the  only 
thing  that  stands  between  him  and  perfect  itMoration. 
Let  us  suppose  that  he  pays  every  cent,  (of  course  it  would 
be  impossible  though.)      He  is  really  and  awfully  sorry  for 

fSi) 


what  he  has  done.  He  gets  her  forgiveness  and  does  all 
in  his  power  to  have  that  black  mark  removed  from  his 
soul  but  his  efforts  are  fruitless.  According  to  his  own 
gospel  his  garments-  are  stained,  and  those  stains  can 
never  be  removed.  According  to  his  own  gospel  his  hap- 
piness is  interferred  with  for  time  and  for  eternity.  This 
falls  far  short  of  being  an  intelligent  gospel. 

But  this  partial  restoration  of  the  sinner  in  his  gospel 
of  proposals  seems  to  be  only  for  those  who  strive  for  res- 
toration ;  and  if  they  can  be  but  partially  restored,  ^^  where 
must  the  ungodly  and  sinner  appear?"  What  of  those 
who  do  not  forgive  others,  who  have  no  regard  for  what  is 
right,  but  appear  as  though  they  wanted  to  do  all  the  evil 
they  could  and  live  and  die  without  repentance? 

The  hell  fire  which  Ingersoll's  gospel  creates  is  a 
thousand  times  more  ignorant  and  cruel  than  what  he 
claims  of  the  one  he  endeavors  to  trample  out. 

Let  us  now^  consult,  according  to  Ingersoll's  advice, 
conscience,  reason,  education,  logic,  philosophy  and 
science.  Let  all  these  full-grown  and  well  developed 
children  of  intelligence  speak,  and  judge  between  the  two 
gospels.  There  certainly  can  be  no  divided  jury  in 
this  case.  Every  one  of  them  are  agreed  that  our  gospel 
is  by  far  the  more  attractive,  the  more  to  be  desired  and 
the  more  scientific,  reasonable  and  common-sense  gospel 
of  the  two.      (I  will  convince  you  of   it  in  a  chapter   on 

that  subject  .•) 

Mr.  Ingersoll  is  in  somewhat  the  same  predicament 
with  his  gospel  that  the  United  States  government  was  in 
its  early  day,  with  its  first  articles  of  confederation  which 
were  not  appropriate  to  the  needs  of  the  nation.  TIk  >  fur- 
nished to  the  government  only  the  powder  to  propose  what 
should  be  done.  Congress  was  given  power  to  borrow 
money  but  not  to  pay  it,  power  to  declare  war  but  not  to 

-    (82) 


/ 


i 


raise  taxes  to  furnish  money  with  which  to  carry  on  that 
war.  And  so  it  is  with  IngersolPs  gospel.  It  tells  us  that 
every  cent  of  the  great  debt  of  our  sins  must  be  paid,  but 
it  provides  no  means  whereby  it  can  be  paid.  But  our 
God,  seeing  man  with  that  awful  burden  of  the  great  debt 
of  his  sins  upon  him,  unable  to  pay  the  debt,  provided  a 
way  whereby  it  should  be  paid,  and  a  receipt  given  to  all 
who  would  comply  with  the  simple  conditions.  Yes,  our 
gospel  enables  those  who  will  to  rise  triumphant  to  the 
full  possession  of  the  heavenly  estate. 


(83) 


/ 


CHAPTKR  X. 


ANALYSIS    OF    INGERSOLL'S   GOSPEL    OF     INTELLIGENCE 

CONCLUDED. 


Heaven  or  Hell  Our  Own  Choice— Ingersoll  Despises  Humility 
and  the  Atonement  of  Christ—"  Every  Cent  Must  Be  Paid"  But 
No  Way  to  Pay  It— Heaven  Where  Those  Are  We  Love  ?— 
Some  Saved ;  Others  Lost. 


He  says,  ''  No  God  can  put  a  man  in  hell  in  another 
world  who  has  made  a  little  heaven  in  this.''  If  we  go  to 
hell  we  will  go  there  because  we  loved  darkness  rather 
than  light  and  because  we  deliberately  chose  darkness 
to  light,  not  because  (^od  wants  us  there  ;  but  in  keeping 
with  IngersolPs  own  "  Eternal,  inexorable,  everlasting 
justice,  so  far  as  nature  is  concerned,  that  we  must  reap 
what  we  sow.''  In  the  final  judgment  it  will  not  be  neces- 
sary to  tell  us  whether  to  take  the  right  hand  or  depart  to 
the  left  ;  neither  will  any  accuse  their  fellow-men  or  their 
maker  of  judging  them  unkindly  or  unjustly. 

Ilr  tells  us  that  ''  No  God  can  put  a  man  in  hell  in 
another  world,  who  has  made  a  little  heaven  in  this;  " 
bill  iiiAvhere  in  his  chapter  of  proposals  does  he  tell  us 
what  he  proposes  to  do  with  the  man  who  lias  made  a  little 

(84) 


i 


(^* 


hell  in  this  world  ;  and  he  says  he  has  made  up  his  mind 
''If  there  is  a  God  He  will  be  merciful  to  the  merciful  and 
will  not  torture  the  forgiving.     Upon  that  rock  he  stands. 
That  ''  The  honest  man,  the  good  woman  have  nothing 
to  fear,  either  in  this  world  or  the  world  to  come."    Upon 
that  rock  he  stands.     But  he  does  not  tell    us  what  he 
proposes  to  do  with  the  unmerciful  and  unforgiving,  the 
dishonest  man  and  the  bad  woman,  for  lots  of  them  there 
are  in  this  world,  (perhaps  he  has  not  made  up  his  mind 
yet  unless  the  "  eternal  sleep,"  annihilation,  of  which  he 
speaks  is  intended  for  the  unsaved  ;  or  perhaps  to  lightly 
dismiss  the  subject  and  get  rid  of  telling  us  what  he  pro- 
poses for  them,   he  says,    "I  will  leave   my  dead    where 
Nature  leaves  them.")     But  hark!      Listen!     Hear  his 
confident  declaration  of   Nature's  proposals:   "  You  must 
reap    what   you    sow.     Every   cent   must   be   paid.     No 
bankrupt  court  there."     But  really  he  has  well  said,  ''No 
bankrupt    court   there,"    for    Nature— God— seeing    iiuui 
bankrupt,   with   a  debt  upon   him  he  could   not   pay,  m 
mercy  constructed  a  bank,  so  to  speak,  in  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,  that  furnishes  an  exhaustless  supply  from  which  we 
may  draw  if  we  wish  ;  but  Ingersoll's  gospel   seeks  lo  iie- 
molish  that  supply  and  leave  us  helpless. 

He  says  he  does  not  want  the  atonement  of  Cliri>t, 
that  he  does  "  not  want  to  be  a  charity  angel,"  and  ibai 
he  has  ''no  ambition  to  become  a  winged  pauper  of  the 
skies  ;  "  an  1  hv  curses  the  God  who  would  give  Ili.^  inno- 
cent Son  for  guilty  men. 

It  is  the  very  simplicity  of  the  gospel  at  whu  li  lie 
stuni])les.  He  hates,  \w  despises  the  thought  of  hnniility. 
Ill  IS  above  anything  of  UR  kind.  With  what  vehement 
ardui  iliRS  Ik-  ull  us  of  lii>  hostility  to  a  nnnd  so  meek  and 
lowlv  as  to  acce])t  Ciirisl  as  a  mediator  !  With  what  ran- 
corous enmity  does  he  trample  upon  llie  idea  of  lunnblmg 

(85) 


^ 


himself  to  say,   '^OGod,    for  Christ^s  sake,    forgive   my 
sins!''     He  looks  down  upon  us   because    we   accept  the 
atonement.       From    his   exalted  position   he  maligns  the 
Christian  church,  because  we  ''  kneel,"  as  he  says  ^*  to  a 
God  who  accepts  the  agony  of  the  innocent   for  an  atone- 
ment for  the  guilty.''      Yet  his  gospel   sees  us  down  —in 
hell  as  it  were— with  a  burden  of  the  debt  of  our  sins  upon 
us  a  myriad  of   times  greater  than  we  can  ever  lift,  aiul  it 
says  to  us,  ''  You  have  got  to  reap  what  you  have   sowed. 
Every  cent  must  be  paid,  and  you  can't  get  up  from  there 
until  you  have  paid  every  cent."     I  wonder  what  kind  of 
a  God  he  calls  that !     Is  it  not  worse  than   he  has    made 
out  of  what  he  calls  the  Orthodox  God?     He  says  of  end- 
less punishment,    ''  I  despise  it,  and  I  defy  it."     And  yet 
he  is  creating  as  bad  a  hell    as  the   one    he    proposes   to 

destroy. 

^^  A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I 
should  advise  him  to  send  forth  his  angels  into  the  four 
quarters  of  the  earth  and  gather  together  his  savings  and 
hustle  them  into  his  machine  shop  and  work  tin  iii  over 
again  (or  destroy  them  and  give  it  up  as  a  bad  ]u\>j  and 
hold  a  council  of  war— Oh  !  excuse  me,  iVace  Con.mus- 
sion.  But  if  they  get  these  sayings  of  his  k*-.  iIr  r  so 
they  will  stay  I  think  he  will  have  to  get  his  dniliiiK  nin- 
chine  into  active  work.  I  magine  il  will  be  necessary  to 
use  lots  of  glue  and  a  good  ni;mv  rivets. 

These  sayings  of  his  remind  nic  of  ekctricitics.  Some 
attract  each  other  ;  uURa:,  rcpuL  Bring  liie  North  ]X)le  of 
one-  magnet  to  the  South  pole  of  another  and  tht-re  is  an 
altractani,  a  ih-awini^,  a  clinKi^^:  toi^ether  ;  but  bring  the 
iiorih  luiU:  ot  one  nia^^net  tu  the  north  pole  of  another 
magnt-land  tlurre  is  war  in  cam]),  a  re])nlsion,  tliev  do  not 
iikr  c:ic]i  otlKi.  And  m>  Mr.  Ingersoll  makes  a  ne«^ative 
staii/nRaii  and  then  an  anirmatu'e,  or  \ice-\-ersa,  upon  the 

(86) 


/ 


^ 


\ 


t 
f 


( 


same  subject  and  tries  to  weld  them   together.     It   would 
be  just  as  sensible  to  try  to  weld  a  stick  of  wood  to  a  piece 

of  iron. 

*^  Talk,"  he  says,  ''  about  the  consolations  of  this  in- 
famous doctrine,  that  makes  a  father  say,  '  I  can  be  happy 
with  my  daughter  in  hell,'  that  makes  a  mother  say,  '  I 
can  be  happy  with  my  generous,  brave  boy  in  hell,'  that 
makes  a  boy  say,  '  I  can  enjoy  the  glory  of  heaven  with 
the  woman  who  bore  me,  the  woman  who  would  have  died 
for  me,  in  eternal  agony,'  "  and  he  adds,  ''  They  call  that 
tidings  of  great  joy."  He  also  says,  "  Heaven  is  where 
those  are  we  love,  and  those  who  love  us."  Let  us  inves- 
tigate : 

Here   is  a  man    and  wife,   well   mated,   jubilant  and 
happy;  but  suddenly  all  is  changed.     This  kind  and  lov- 
ing husband  takes  to  drinking,      hie  becomes  a  poor,  nais- 
erable  sot,  corrupted  and  degraded.     His  kind  and  loving 
anal  gentle  words  are  seldom  heard    an\    more  ;    bui    tlie> 
li.ne  turned  to  words  of  unkindness,  profanity,  hatred  and 
conttnit)!.      His  gentle  loving  treatment  is  seldom  realized 
anymore:    !)ut  i'^  ttirned  to  abuse,   it  lias  become  hateful, 
l>rntal,  fiendisli.      Her  comfortable  support  has  tnrna-d  to  a 
coltl  house,  short  rations  and  little  clothing.     But  she  has 
!)een  true  to  h.er  marriage  vows — more  than  true  to  them. 
She  has  treated  him  kindly  all    iht-  while.      She  love^  him 
stilb      She  bemoans   lii^  condition!      She  weeps  over  hnn 
bv  (lav  and  by   night  1      Tlie  trouble  and   sorrow   he    has 
caused  her  no  tongue  can  tell  1     And    yet   ^Ir.    Ingersoll 
tells  us  she  is  living  in  heaven   all   this  time.      This    man 
loves  his  wife  and  thev  are  still   living  together.      Drunk- 
ards love  their  wives.      Thieves  and    murderers  love  their 
wives.     Now  :Mr.  Ingersoll,  I  am  going  to  strike  you  wuth 
your  own  weapoui  : 


(87) 


"  Talk  about  the  consolation  of  this  infamous  doc- 
trine/' The  consolation  of  a  doctrine  that  makes  a  father 
and  husband  say,  *^I  am  in  heaven,  but  a  wretched, 
drunken  sot.  I  am  happy  though  spending  time  and 
money  in  drunken  rows  and  fights  while  the  woman  and 
children  that  I  love  are  at  home  half  clothed,  and  shiver- 
ing with  cold.  I  am  happy  in  my  home  with  my  loved 
ones  whom  I  thrash  and  pound  and  treat  so  cruelly  while 
they  are  so  kind  to  me.''  That  makes  a  wife  and  mother 
say,  ''  I  am  living  in  heaven  with  my  son,  the  boy  that  I 
bore  and  for  whom  I  would  die,  leading  a  wild  and  reck- 
less life,  in  drunken  rows  and  even  murders,  bringing 
shame  and  disgrace  upon  himself  and  others.  I  am  living 
in  heaven,  with  the  man  I  love  leaving  me  and  the  dear 
children  at  home,  in  coldness  and  hunger,  while  he  spends 
our  substance  in  riotous  living,  in  gambling  hells  and 
drinking  saloons,  in  debauchery  and  crime.  I  am  in 
heaven  with  the  man  I  love  pounding  and  cruelly  treating 
the  woman  and  children  who  are  the  idols  of  his  heart.'' 
And  then  he  asks  us  to  believe  that  an  intelligent  gospel. 
That  is  worse  than  he  makes  out  of  the  creed  he  calls 
**  frightful,  hideous  and  hellish."  (/  am  pleased,  how- 
ever,   that  this    noted  agnostic  should  name  such  a  gospel 

ajter  himself.) 

It  is  true  that  we  may  have  a  large  degree  of  happi- 
ness, a  sweet  rest  of  soul,  a  grand  foretaste  of  heaven  here  ; 
yet  trouble  comes  to  the  best  of  homes,  and  when  you 
come  to  call  it  heaven  I  tell  you  I  believe  in  a  whole- 
hearted heaven.  It  matters  not  how  good  the  home  in 
this  life,  pain  and  sorrow  enters  there  more  or  less.  I  tell 
you  Mr.  Ingersoll  it  would  be  a  crime  for  us  not  to  belicne 
in  a  higher  heaven  than  anything  you  have  told  us  about 
yet. 


(88) 


\ 


S 


s 

V 


"  Talk  about  the  consolation  of  a  doctrine"  that 
says  to  countless  numbers  of  people,  "  Visit  those  loved 
ones  in  yonder  asylum  or  hospital  and  see  them  rave  m 
delirium  or  droop  in  the  darkness  of  gloom  and  despair 
the  misery  of  which  no  tongue  can  tell,  or  see  them  lan- 
guishing on  beds  of  sickness  and  suffering,  or  undergoing 
a  severe  operation,  and  clap  your  hands  for  joy  because 
you  are  in  heaven  !  "—With  those  you  love.  And  this  is 
the  doctrine  of  heaven  that  we  must  accept  at  present  or 
be  called  all  sorts  of  naughty  names.  We  have  got  to  be- 
lieve this  doctrine  without  understanding  it  too  f 

The  inhabitants  of  what  you  call  the  "Orthodox 
heaven"  will  not  suffer  from  the  blighting  curse  of  sin. 
Sorrowing  and  weeping  will  not  enter  there.  Our  gospel 
will  not  remember  the  past  against  us  forever,  the  way 
yours  does.  The  whole  will  be  blotted  out  forever, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Savior.  There  is  nothing  un- 
reasonable about  believing  in  a  whole-hearted  gospel 

Now  to  his  "  infamous  doctrine  "  as  he  calls  it  of  God 
and  human  beings  being  happy  in  heaven  while  others  are 
in  hell      If  that  idea  is  correct  then  God  is  unhappy  now, 
knowing  as  He  does,  all  the  suffering  of  humanity  from 
the  slightest  degree  perceptible  to  the  human  intellect,  to 
the  most  intense  suffering  possible  for  man  to  endure,  nmiIi 
all  the  damning,  blackening  crimes  and  vices  and  degra- 
dations that  humanity  is  subject  to  on  earth  ;  anrl    neUli.i 
rnrJ<l  anybody  enjoy  themselves  here,  for  everybody  loves 
somebody  who  is  wayward  and  unruly,  suffering  from  the 
bligliiii.  ■  curses  of  sin  of  some  description.     There  is  ,iu 
sen'.pr.n,.   aU:u  ul  God  clothing   himself   in   crape   and 
making  a  business  of  mouniuig  over  the  trouble  that   we 
brir..  upon  ourselves.     People  often  become   so   attaeliea 
to  loved  ones  that  they  mourn  and  grieve  over  them,  wiun 
afflicted,  so  that  it  really  makes  them  sick  ;  but  of  course 

v89> 


it  must  be  heaven  never-the-less,  if  Intrcrsoll  says  so,  if 
the  atmosphere  they  breathe  is  tainted  with  sorrow  and  dis- 
ease. I  repeat  that  it  is  a  crime  to  preach  no  higher 
heaven  than  Ingersoll  does. 

Let  us  see  now,  about  his  statement,  **  I  never  will 
ask  any  God  to  treat  me  better  than  I  treat  my  fellow- 
men.*'  I  wonder  if  he  would  be  willing  to  stand  by  that 
to  the  last.  I  wonder  if  he  has  not  won  manv  cases  in 
law-suits  that  were  in  the  wrong,  and  by  so  doing  done 
injustice  to  the  party  in  the  right.  I  wonder  if  he  will 
stand  by  his  own  gospel  and  '^  pay  every  cent''  to  those 
whom  his  arguments  have  beaten  in  Court,  when  justice 
demanded  that  they  should  win.  I  wonder  if  he  could  do 
it  even  though  he  felt  so  disposed  ? 


t 


\ 


/ 


CHAPTER  XI. 


REVISED    VERSION    OF    INGERSOLL' S  CHAPTER  ON  "THE 

METHODISTS.  • 


Great  Opinion  of  Self-His  Calling-Unlike   Weslej-Rescuing   the 

Deity— Infidels  Their  Own  Enemies. 


^ 


; 


1 


(90) 


In  the  neighborhood   of   sixty-five   years   ago   there 
appeared  on  the  face  of  the  earth  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Robert  Ingersoll— he  has  been  nicknamed  Bob.   He  has  the 
greatest  opinion  of  himself  of  any  man  1  ever  heard  of. 
He  will  get  off  the  sheerest  nonsense  and  call  it  coiiiiiion^ 
sense.     It  is  ''My  gospel,  my   gospel,    niv    crospel  ;     my 
doctrine,  my  doctrine;  I  tell  you,   I   tell   you;    1  say.'' 
Self  is  the  central  figure  around  which  the   world   should 
revolve.     He  does  not  need  the   forgiveness  of  God  ;   Iml 
he  does  need  the  forgiveness  of  himself.      The   love    he 
recommends  for  the  human  race,  is  "  self-loved'—-  intel- 
ligent self-love."     If  he  cannot  go  to  heaven  on  the  merits 
of  Bob.  ingersoll  he  does  not  want  to  go    there  ;  and    he 
would  rath'^er  go  to  hell  than   descend  into   the  valle>-   of 
humiliation,  than  accept  of  the  atonement  of  our  Lord  and 
Savior  Jesus  Christ. 

(91) 


mwxi^^ims^'^^iSiiS^' 


He  took  up  the  study  of  the  Bible,  of  christian  writ- 
ings, of  ecclesiastical  and  profane  history.  He  found  that 
all  but  a  few  sentences  of  the  Bible  were  false,  and  that 
the  Bible  and  Christianity  was  a  most  prolific  source  of  the 
agonies  and  crimes  of  the  world,  of  darkness  and  gloom  in 
the  human  heart  and  of  the  bacteriological  hell  of 
ignorance  in  which  the  world  was  floundering. 

He  was  a  lawyer  and  a  law  came  into  existence, 
through  him  as  a  mediator,  that  **  Science  was  the  only 
possible  savior  of  the  human  race."  He  said,  **if  the 
world  is  in  such  a  hell  of  ignorance  somebody  ought  to 
mention  it."  The  spirit  of  God,  common-sense  and  con- 
science said,  give  your  heart  to  God  and  make  a  useful 
man  of  yourself.  Ingersoll  said,  '^This  frightful  truth 
ought  to  be  proclaimed  from  the  house-top  of  every  oppor- 
tunity, from  the  highway  of  every  occasion."  He  said, 
if  there  is  such  a  hell  ''  and  a  Niagara  of  souls  pouring  over 
an  eternal  precipice  of  ignorance,  somebody  ought  to  say 
something."  And  he  was  right,  if  the  Bible  and  Chris- 
tianity is  such  a  heinous  thing  it  should  be  destroyed, 
root  and  branch. 

Unlike  Wesley,  he  is  not  a  believer  in  the  Bible  ;  he 
believes  in  Robert  Ingersoll.  Unlike  Wesley  he  does  not 
believe  ^'  in  the  actual  presence  of  the  Almi^^hty  ;"  he  be- 
lieves in  the  wonderful  presence  of  Robert  Ingersoll. 
Unlike  Wesley,  he  does  not  have  God  perform  for  him,  so 
inferior  wonders  as  curing  his  headaches,  hi^  huibc  b  kinit- 
ness,  or  putting  off  showers  for  his  meetings  ;  lie  is  above 
it;  but  God  put  off  giving  to  the  world  the  '' infinitely 
important  fact"  that  *' Science  is  liic  oiilv  possible  savior 
of  the  human  race,"  for  nearly  six  thousaii  1  \tars,  to  cive 
Mr.  luo^ersoU  a  chance  to  gain  the  lionor  of  hviuy;  iIh  hi- 
spired  insuument  of  God,  and  the  ''  onlv  iiitdiator  be- 
tween God  and  man." 


\ 


/• 


i 


Unlike  Wesley,  he  does  not  believe  *^  in  the  actual 
existence  of  the  devil;"  but  he  believes  in  the  great  ex- 
istence of  Robert  Ingersoll.  Unlike  Wesley,  he  does  not 
believe  that  ^* devils  have  possession  of  people;"  he  be- 
lieves that  Robert  Ingersoll  can  get  possession  of  theiii, 
although  I  think  I  would,  have  little  choice  as  to  which  i 
would  be  possessed  with,  Ingersoll  or  the  devil,  if  there  is 
any  difference.  There  is  this  much  about  it,  however,  one 
may  be  possessed  with  the  devil  without  being  possessed 
with  Ingersoll;  vice- versa?  "Nay  verily,"  I  do  not  be- 
lieve one  can  be  possessed  with  Ingersoll  without  being 
possessed  with  the  devil.  Unlike  Wesley,  Ingersoll  rlid 
not  talk  to  the  devil  when  he  was  in  people,  for  the  devil 
to  tell  him  he  was  going  to  leave  and  go  into  another  per- 
son, and  be  there  when  he  got  there,  "prompt  to  the 
minute;"  but  Ingersoll  talked  to  Ingersoll  and  told  him 
that  he  himself  could  get  into  people,  and  that  he  would 
be  there  at  about  such  a  time,  and  being  so  nnglity  a 
personage,  he  just  takes  it  for  granted  that  he  is  there, 
"  prompt  to  the  minute.  "  But  he  is  mistaken.  He  may 
be  honest  in  what  lie  says,  "  but  I  don't  believe  it.  " 

Every  person  that  he  gets  into,  or  in  other  words, 
every  person  that  becomes  possessed  with  Ingersoll,  he 
counts  as  a  victory  for  Bob,  and  as  evidence  of  the  in- 
telligence of  that  individual. 

Mr.  Ingersoll  has  delivered  a  lecture  entitled  ''What 
Must  We  Do  to  be  Saved,  "  in  which  he  take 


f  ] 


L  J  i  \..- 


"0 1111(1 


that  faith  is  a  poisonous  parasite  aiid  that  no  particular 
belief  is  iiec  L->sary;  and  yet  he  clearly  proves  that  a  par- 
tieular  l)elief  in  a  certain  thing  is  an  absolnte  necessity. 
( Ste  clurpter  4.)  He  will  allow  ns  to  believe  what  we 
please  but  we  can  never  ^'  believe  rigiit  ''  uniil  we  believe 
in  Bob  Ingersoll. 


(92) 


(93) 


In  that  lecture  Ingersoll  has  given  us  two  accounts  of 
the  relation  which  we  hold  to  God.     In  the   first  account 
he  '*  takes  the  ground''  that  we  cannot  injure  God;  and 
that  we  cannot  benefit  or  help  him.     In  the  second  ac- 
count he  ''  takes  the  ground  "  that  the  ckurc/i  has  shame- 
fully abused  and  injured  God.     And  after  investigating 
matters  and  finding  the   Almighty   in   so  terrible  a  con- 
dition, heart-broken,  courage  gone,  good   name  destroy- 
ed, and  reputation  blasted,  knowing  of  course  that  God 
was  unable  to  take  care  of  his  own  name  and  reputation, 
he  decided  to  have  pity  on  the  Almighty,   and  ^'the  only 
way  to  stop  ' '  the  downward  course  of  the  great  name  of 
Almighty  God   was  for  Mr.    Ingersoll  to  hasten  to  the 
rescue  !     Here  are  his  own  words   for  it :     "  From  the 
aspersions  of  the  pulpit  I  seek  to  rescue  the  reputation  of 
the  Deity. ' '     Poor  Deity !     Downtrodden  Deity  !    Mighty 
Ingersoll !     Greater—^ '  I  am '  '—Ingersoll !     Deity  rescu- 
ing Ingersoll !     What  a  fortunate  thing  for  the  Almighty 
that  Mr.  Ingersoll  would  condescend  to  lift  him  up !     ^^  In 
order  to  believe  right"   it  is  necessary  to  believe  this. 
' '  What  a  blessing  that  we  do  not  have  to  understand  it !  " 
Ingersoll  and  infidelity,   unlike  Wesley  and  White- 
field,  did  not  fall  out  on  the  question  of  predestination, 
but  they  fell  out  on  the  question  of  the  importance  of  the 
Bible  in  the  world,  and   as  to  whether  God   or  woman 
should  be  the  object  of  our  supreme  adoration.      (France 
has  led  the  world  in  infidelity  for  many  years.     See  chapter 
on  France.)     Infidelity    undertook  to  legislate  the  Bible 
and  Christianity  out  of  existence,  and  they  set  up  their 
^^  Goddess  of  reason,  "  represented  by   a  theatre  dancing 
girl  (a  dissolute  female)  as  the  great  object  worthy  of  the 
world's  highest  esteem;  but  seeing  the  hazardous  effects, 
it  revoked  its  own  laws  against  the  Bible  and  the  worship 
of  Ond  and  thus  said  that   the  world  was  desparately  in 

(94) 


i 


\ 


X 


/ 


I 


4 


( 


need  of  the  Bible  and  Christianity,  and  that  God,  not 
woman,  should  be  most  highly  exalted.  But  Ingersoll 
says  that  the  Bible  must  be  given  up  and  that  woman, 
instead  of  God,  has  the  first  claim  upon  man.  Infidelity 
said,  ^^  My  little  Robert,  we  have  had  experience,  ilie 
Bible  must  be  given  to  the  world  and  God  should  be  plac- 
ed above  all  else."  But  Ingersoll  said,  ^'  No,  give  us  self- 
love,  for  intelligent  self-love  embraces  within  its  mighty 
arms  all  the  human  race.  Give  us  love  for  woman, 
w^e  cannot  afford  to  spend  any  on  God.  "  But  infidelity 
answered,  ^^  We  speak  that  we  do  know  and  testify  that 
we  have  seen.  While  we  do  not  care  for  God  or  lire 
Bible  ourselves  we  have  found  that  the  world  needs  both 
and  that  the  more  you  can  get  of  the  Bible  and  of  God  in- 
to the  heart  of  man  the  better  men  will  love  their  wives 
and  the  more  they  will  love  humanity  in  general.  "  But 
still  Mr.  Ingersoll  is  obstinate  and  will  not  learn  ilit  les- 
son. So  you  see  the  doctrine  that  infidelity  '^  founded  is 
still  active.  " 

He  says  of  the  Methodists,  ^*  Probably  no  churcli  in 
the  world  has  done  so  much  preaching  for  as  little  money 
as  the  Methodists;  "  but  we  are  obliged  to  reverse  llie 
matter  in  his  case  and  declare  that  probably  no  man  in 
the  world  ever  got  so  much  money  for  as  little  preacliing 
as  Mr.  Ingersoll.  And  it  sounds  well  for  him  to  tell  us 
how  '^  Through  all  the  years  those  who  plowed  'li\i<le(l 
with  those  who  prayed.  "  How  "  Wicked  industry  sup- 
ported pious  idleness;  the  hut  gave  to  the  cathedral  and 
frightened  poverty  gave  even  its  rags  to  Ijiu  a  robe  for 
hypocrisy,"  and  hold  himself  upas  a  model  of  common- 
sense  and  honesty  and  tell  us  how  anxiously  he  will  labor 
and  do  all  he  can  to  rid  man  of  foolisli  snpentitions  and 
drive  the  infinite  shadow^  of  hell  out  of  his  heart,  when 
he  would  not  condescend   to  make  one   single  deliver)    of 

195) 


this  lecture,  "  Wliat  Must  We  Do  to  be  Saved?"  without 
a  previous  guarantee  of  at  least  one  hundred  dollars. 

"  In  old  times  "  infidelity  was   silly  and  profligate. 
In  their  places  of  worship  was  their  Goddess  of  reason,  a 
dissolute  female,  "  to  take  the  place  of  the  Deity.  "    They 
even  abrogated  the   marriage    fealty,   a   man   or  woman 
would  live  with  one  companion  a  while  and  then  take  an- 
other, and  divorces  were  much  more  frequent  than  births— 
tremendously    "  barbarous,  "    heathenish    and    hellish. 
"  They  have  advanced  since  then,  "   they  have  returned 
to  better  ideas  of  marriage,  and  Ingersoll  calls  for  "  good 
women;  "but  "we"   still  "find  as  a  fact,  demonstrated 
by  "  the  intelligence  of  Bob.   Ingersoll,  that  woman,   in 
the  heart  of  man,  should  be   placed  above  the  Almighty. 
"  There  is  another  thing  "  that  infidels  "should  re- 
member, and  that  is  that  the"  infidels  "have  been  the 
greatest  enemies  they  ever  had.  "    They  start  out  to  prove 
the   Bible  false  but  by  investigating,  fnany  of  them  be- 
come converted.     Their  own  arguments  really  prove  the 
truth  of  the  Bible,  and  they   should  remember  that  faith, 
not  unbelief,  is  the  cause  of   all  goodness,  truth  and  mor- 
ality. 

"  There  is  one  thing  about"  infidelity  "that  I  like,  * 
it  manifests  its  true  nature  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  em- 
brace it  so  that  they  are  always  troubled  with  the  ques- 
tion, that  an  infidel  out  in  the  field,  walking  back  and 
forth ,  and  swinging  his  hands,  was  heard  asking  himself  over 
and  over  and  over  again,  "  Is  there  a  God  or  ain'l  there  a 
God  '  ?  Is  there  a  God  or  ain't  there  a  God  !  ?  Is  there 
a  God  or  ain't  there  a  God  !  ?  "  "  I  find,  "  also  that  in- 
fidels   "differ   in    their  creeds"  about  as  much  as    tne 

churches  do. 

Ingersoll  says  "  The  Methodist  clinch  is  adapted  to 

new  countries.  "    Infidelity  is  adapted  to  the  hearts  of  peo- 

(96) 


i 


/ 


} 


pie  who  do  not  wish  for  religious  and  moral  restraint;  ^'its 
ministers  ^*  are  those  who  will  not  acknowledge  that  they 
are  taking  an  exactly  opposite  course  from  that  which 
they  know  and  deeply  feel  they  ought  to  take,  *^  and  with 
them  *^  calling  themselves  unbelievers,  for  an  excuse  for 
their  ways,  takes  the  place  of  truth.  A  good  many  of 
their  converts  are  profligate  Spiritualists;  but  aside  from 
them,  according  to  their  number  of  converts  a  niiicli 
larger  per  cent,  of  them  backslide,  than  there  does  of  tho-e 
who  are  converted  to  Jesus  Christ.  ''In  the"  awful 
struggles  ''  that  follow  ''  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the  soul, 
*'most    of   the    converts''    shrink    from    the    horr 


1 1  \  i  i  i  ^: 


t  lioughts  of  infidelity,  to  find  mercy  and  peace  tliiougli 
Jesus  Christ.  No  person  was  ever  sorry  for  i  iiibracinir 
Christianity.  It  does  not  make  people  miserable;  but 
gives  them  solid  comfort.  It  causes  one  to  die  in  i>ea(:e.. 
But  infidelity  works  directly  opposite,  not  only  111  the 
dying  moments,  but  during  life. 

Talmage,  a  few  years  ago  preached  a  sermon  declar- 
ing how  infidelity  troubles,  horrifies,  breaks  to  pieces, 
tears  down  and  destroys;  and  how  Christianity  ]>riii.-s 
peace,  drives  horror  away,  builds  up  aiul  preserves;  after 
which  Ingersoll  revised  this  lecture,  and  told  about  his 
gospel  and  what  wonders  it  would  perform. 


(97) 


^ 


\ 


CHAPTER  XII. 


SLIGHT    ANALYSIS  OF    INGERSOLL'S    GOSPEL   OF  HUMOR, 


Wine,  Tobacco,  Hay— A  Mistake  That  Solemn  People  Are  Always 
Stupid  and  That  no  Humorous  Person  Ever  Founded  a  Religion- 
Humor  no  Tendency  to  Make  People  What  They  Should  Be— 
Despondency  of  Great  Humorists— Something  Lacking  in  Soul 
Regardless  of  Humor  — God's  Mistakes  — Enemies  — Ingersoll 
Divided  Against  Himself— Unconsciously  Reveals  Belief  in  Pro- 
phets. 


Name  something  else  that  Ingersoll  proposes?  ^'Good 
fellowship,  good  friends''  all  round,  funny  people,  etc. 
Then  he  goes  on  with  the  following  :  ^^  One  man  said  to 
another : ' ' 

W  ill  you  take  a  glass  of  wine  ?  '  " 

*  'I  do  not  drink.'" 
'    Will  you  smoke  a  cigar?'  " 

*  *  I  do  not  smoke.  '  " 

*  '  May  be  you  will  chew  something ! '  " 
'  'I  do  not  chew. '" 

*  *  Tvet  us  eat  some  hay. '  " 
^  '  i  tell  you  I  do  not  eat  hay.  *  " 

*  Well,  then,  good-bye,  for  you  are  no  company  for 
man  ui  beast. '  " 

(98) 


/ 


i 


Then  he  adds,  **I  believe  in  the  gospel  of  cheerful- 
ness, of  Good  Nature,  of  good  health.  " 

.  What  a  noble  idea  1  Drink  wine,  smoke  cigars  and 
chew  tobacco  to  make  us  cheerful,  good  natured  aiici 
healthy;  the  very  things  that  bring  their  opposites. 

He  does  not  like  solemnity.  He  wants  to  see  people 
jolly  and  full  of  fun.  ^^ While  reason,  "  he  says,  ''  is  the 
holy  light,  humor  carries  the  lantern,  and  the  man  witli  a 
keen  sense  of  humor  is  preserved  from  the  soleinu  stupuli- 
ties  of  superstition.  " 

Ik  makes  one  statement  contradict  another  right 
through.  Hi'  says  solemn  people  are  always  stupid  peo- 
ple; but  that  is  not  true,  some  of  our  o-rcatest  iiu  n  have 
been  men  of  solemnity.  Jesus  Christ,  lie  franklv  admits, 
was  one  of  the  world's  greatest  men,  anything  but  a  stupid 
man,  and  yet  history  records  not  one  single  statenient 
thai  he  ever  made  to  provoke  lau^oiter,  or  that  cuiikl  be 
called  iiiiinnrous.  Again,  ^^  No  man  of  anv  liumor  ever 
founded  a  rcli^ion^-never. "  l>ut  is  it  true?  No.  In- 
gersoll is  a  humorous  man,  and  we  have  but  to  take  him 
^^  ^^-^  ^,^-^.,1  .^,,1  ^^:xy  that  he  has  founded  a  relii^ion,  loo. 
he  has  preached  enough  anvliow,  and  he  is  all,  '^My 
gospel,  my  gospel,  "  and  he  calls  himself  a  Inimorous 
man  and  then  says  ^^No  man  of  any  humor  ever  founded 
a  religion— never.  "  Well,  well,  how  can  we  Ijelieve  his 
many  conflicting  stones  unless  we  believe  what   we   know 

is  not  so  i 

But  some  of  our  best  religious  workers  in  the  church 
are  miithiul,  wittv  people.  I  like  to  see  people  with  a 
well  developed  faculty  of  mirthfulness,  I  like  to  meet 
ihem;  but  I  like  to  see  them  use  it  aright  and  not  make 
boors  (d'  themselves  to  distort  the  truth. 

Tvlirtlifnlness.  accordinir  to  science,  and  that's  what 
he  calls  tor,  does  not  make  men  merciful  or  forgiving.      It 

f99) 


does  not  make  his  '*  honest  man  "  nor  his  **  good  woman.  " 
I  notice  too,  that  humorous  people  are  subject  to  bad 
spells  as  well  as  other  people.  They  have  their  ups  and 
downs  more  than  those  who  are  not  so  mirthful.  They 
are  subject  to  the  blues  as  much  as  aii)  body.  A  larger  per 
cent,  of  funny,  witty  people  fall  into  utter  despair  and 
commit  suicide  than  of  those  who  are  a])|Kiu!itl\  iiiuu 
solemn.  Due  lia^  well  expressed Jt,  ''The  iLuni}  iiiaii  ul 
to-day  is  the  despondent  man  of  to-mnrrnw.  "  People  of 
large  humor  are  often,  in  societ)  n  rnii]i>aii\  *'t  oilurs, 
laixeK^  nia,iiitt.'stiii)^  ajMKirent  jollit)'  ^ud  glee  when  llieir 
heart  i^  header  lliaii  lead.  They  often  appear  to  treat 
\er\  lii;;u.iy  and  sportiveh"  111^.11  a  -uhject  when  walhiii 
they  are  lalnaan-  under  painful  aaid  :5uIeiHii  c<ai\actu>ii:5, 
^Do  \-ou  see  what  I  mean  aow  ^)v  <av'u]<y  1  di)  not  like  to 
see  the  faculty  used  di>h*  nie-tly  ?  J  A  lnnn<a-oiis  ]>er- 
s<'>n  with  little  regard  Inr  llie  uuih  wi'i  uitiai  ^^vi  up  a 
]auL!ji  and  lhwa.rl  tlie  loi^ical  and  irreiuladie  ar<4nnienl>  of 
a  cini-cientioii>  inudlii^ent  man. 

One  of  the   <:reale>i  hnanMia>Ls    ever    known,   Matthew 
'Matthew^,    n^ed    to    iri\a.-   liuna^rous    leetnres  to    hirii-ecitx' 


^ 


\ 


andiences  and  keep  his  atidience  man  u|n"oar.  C  )ne  da\- 
aftea"  n'uanii-  one  of  the-^e  lectures  he  weiU.  to  a  plu'sieian— 
who  did  not  know  him — and  told  him  how  he  was  tronJ.)- 
]v(\  with  the  hlue>  and  wamted  to  kn(»w  ii  lie  eotildn't  do 
somethin<^  for  him,  and  so  the  doctor  adxa^ed  hini  Ut  140 
am!  hear  ^hittliew  Matthew^  lecture.  ''  Alas!  ''  said  the 
man,  ^*  1  am  Matthew  Ahitthew>  myself  !  " 

A    vonn^    man — -a    hri^^ht 
-witli    whmn    I    am    accpudnteih    \wi-    aiwavs    exceediuj^lv 


nteiiiirtaU    voiuij^    man- 


\t»  !  t  r  \-     'i  T^  a 


atlmorotl^;    hut    when    he    was   solemn   he   was 

solemn.  With  his  owui  mouth  did  he  reveal  to  me  the 
fact  tha,t  he  thought  earncNti}'  n])on  religio!i>  siahjects. 
But  iinlortiinateh  thai  was   not  the  worst  of    it.      He    met 

(100) 


X 


/ 


I 


\ 


\ 


with  a  sore  disappointment.  dHis  humor  save  him?  No. 
He  was  furiously  tossed  on  the  tempestuous  tides  of  de- 
spondency !     He  wreaked  and  he  writhed  in  the  agonies 

of  despair!  idn  some  time  he  contemplated  suicide! 
"Idien^  was  a  l)ridge  across  which  he  used  to  ha\'e  to  ^^o. 
Evt  riino  after  e\  eninig  he  w^otild  stop  and  thiuik  to  perform 
the  awful  Irai^edy  !  A  thirty~twa>  calilu'c  re\a.)l\-cr  would 
be  drawn  from  his  iiocket  and  pointed  at  his  head. 

Another  natutralh"  exceedingly  wittv  and  hnniorotis 
\-oun<^  mrnn  whom  I  knew,  bnglit  and  intellit^ent,  an  able 
scliolar  and  well  lik«  (h  >uccnmbed  to  despair  and  actually 
took  his  own  life. 

No,  riea  lar^e  nnrthfnlness  is  not  sahaition.  Those 
who  are  without  salvation,  mid  \'et  are  quite  humorous, 
and  feel  free  to  speak,  acknowdedge  that  tliere  is  a  sort  of 
ac]iin,i4-  \-oid  witliin  tliem,  reaching  out  after  something, 
they  can  scarcely  tell  what  ;  l)ut  a  lack  wdiicli  even  the  keen 
sense  of  htnnor  cannot  snpplv.  To  be  sure  it  does  afford 
a  certain  amount  of  enjoyment,  of  light  of  its  kind;  btit 
it  is  small  wdien  placed  along  by  the  side  of  salvation, 
and  it  is  quite  difierent--yotn  dear  reader,  wall  not  be  able 
to  eoni])reliend  this  unless  \ou  have  experienced  it — btit 
wdien  yon  come  to  compare  humor  wdth  salvation,  truly  it 
is  like  comparing  a  tallow  candle  wdth  the  sun.  What 
the  world  calls  ftm  and  pleasure  often  l)rings  relief,  for 
the  time  being,  hut  it  does  not  cure. 

J-erhaps  this  would  be  the  most  appropriate  time  to 
tell  voui  that  Mr.  Ingersoll  w\ants  to  know^  wdiv  God  shoidd 
make  mistakes.  And  ''  Infinite  Wdsdom  never  made  a 
poor  investment,''  lie  says.  But  it  would  really  seem, 
from  our  hnite  minds,  as  though  He  made  a  gross  mis- 
take, a  poor  investment  indeed,  when  he  made  Bob  In- 
gersoll.  Then  he  sa\s,  ''  Wdiy  should  he  not  correct  his 
mistakes   instead    td    damning  them?*'       W^ell,    well,     if 


1   lOI   ; 


this  mistake — Mr.   Ingersoll— is  damned  instead  of  cor- 
rected who  can  be  blamed  ?     Nobody  but  himself.     He 
won't  come  to  the  judgment  and  go  to  shooting  off  his 
HID  ith  to  God  and  giving  God  his  lip,  the  way  he  says  on 
page  53  of  his  lecture  that  he  will.     He  will  be  like  one 
of  old  who  had  not  on  the  wedding  garment— speechless : ' ' 
**  The  kiiii!(U)ni  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  certain  king 
which  made  a  marriage  for  his  son.  '*     Wedding  garments 
(an  outer  garment — such  was  the  custom  in   that  coun- 
try at    iluit   time)    were    iunushed  at  the  door  for  every 
guest,  and  there  came  along  a  man   who,   like  Mr.  Inger- 
soll, wished  to  be  called  a  teacher,  not  a  preacher,  and  so 
made  up  lus  nnivl  to  teacli  tlieiii  liuw  to  go  to  a  wedding 
and   wear   no  i^ariiKiit   but  his    own.      *' When   the   king 
came  in  to  see  the  guests,  he  saw  there  a  man  which  had 
not   on    a   weddincr-ofarment  :      And  he  saith   unto  him, 
Mruii:,'    see  how   kindly  he  approaches  him,    'Friend, 
iiw  earnest  thou    in  hither,    not    having  a  wedding  gar- 

— he  <:rave  the    king  hail-cohimbia  ?     No. 


i 


.    1    I   H-l> 


iiic  ill 

(t  \n  1  _^he  said  *'  I  thought  I  wonM  wear  no  garments 
bill  111}  own?'*  No.  V\'lial  then?  "And  he  was  speech- 
less.'''    \Vli>  >iiouldnHhe  be?     He  knew  his  duty  but 

fell  al)o\"c  it. 

Mr.  Ingersoll  says  that  **  It  will    not  do   for  this   God 

who  trlls  US  to  lo\a'  our  onornicrs,  lo  ilainii  ins: 

Now  lot  us  cunsult  Ins  own  ir^spel  and  see  if  it  is  God 

that  (larniis  the  smnou      i  turn  to  pau;c  84,  and  I  read,  "I 

holieve  in  that  irospol  of  Justice,  tluit   wo    mu>l    roap  what 


we  sowo      K\-er\-  cent  niiist  l)c  i)ai( 


'iluui  li>  pa^re  86 
and  I  reatl,  ''  (.iive  u^  iiiteln^enco.  In  a  nttio  while  a  man 
will  rind  that  he  cannot  niunlor  without  as>a>Nniatin^(  his 
own  joyo  He  wall  rind  that  everv  crime  is  a  n]i>takc."  So 
if  wliat  he  says  here  is  true— and  it  certainlv  is — men  rol) 
themselves,  (^^1    docs    not:    they    bring   damnation    upon 


i- 


\ 


t 

) 


1 


themselves,  God  does  not ;  they  sow  what  they  please, 
and  as  a  reasonable  consequence  of  nature  and  justice, 
they  will  reap  and  God  is  not  to  be  held  respoiisibka  1  hat, 
understand,    is    IngersolPs    doctrine — when    it    will    help 

carry  the  point  he  argues  ;  but  lie  irecl\  contradicts  it 
when  arguing  in  another  direction;  and  it  is  also  law  and 
gospel,  and  it  seems  to  be  in  kcepinir  with  wliat  we  have 
already  alluded  to,  namely  :  that  wlieii  jiulgmeiit  is  passed 
upon  us  we  will  uf  necessity  be  speechless,  without  one 
word  of  fault  to  find. 

'*  A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand/'  ah. 
Ingersoll  is  divided  against  himself.  His  gospel  phrases 
collide  and  there  is  a  crash,  they  explode  eacli  other.  His 
doctrines  hold  together  like  feathery  down  111  a  Cliateau- 
gay  thaw.  His  sayings  fit  each  utlier  about  as  a  bran  sack 
fits  a  bean  pole,  and  will  leak  out  of  comnu  ansense  faster 
than  hot  syrup  out  of  cheese  cloth. 

Bui  "^  Why  should  not  God  correct  his  mistakes  in- 
stead of  danniing  them?  '^  He  should,  God  made  man 
and  gave  him  the  power  of  choosing  his  own  course,  and 
he  chose  the  destructive  one.  *^  The  lieart  of  man  is  de- 
ceitful above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked.  And  God 
saw  that  the  wickedness  of  man  w^as  great  in  the  earth,  and 
that  every  imagiiialion  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  w^as 
only  evil  continu.ally.  And  it  repented  God  that  he  had 
made  man  in  the  earth,  and  it  grieved  him  at  his  heart. '^ 
He  destroyed  the  world,  persendng  a  family  which  w^as  all 
right  at  the  time  and  started  anew.  But  it  seemed  to  be 
the  same  old  htorw  (dod  had  told  man  what  the  result  of 
sin  would  l*e  ;  l)ut  against  all  warnings  and  remonstrances 
he  wilfulh-  chose  deatli.  He  saw  the  peril  to  which  man 
was  doomed;  mercy  spoke  and  "  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  ^'  so  that  man  may  be 
restored  to  his  lost  estate  if  he  will.      Do  you  see  anything 


in  this?  Ingersoll  recommends  that  **  God  correct  his 
mistakes  instead  of  damning  them;  *'  God  executes  the 
proposal  and  then  Mr.  Ingersoll  would  verily  damn  him 
for  carrying  out  his  own  suggestion.  Yes,  such  a  God 
would  be  a  thousand  times  worse  *^  monster  of  monsters,  *' 
than  his  so-called  Orthodox  God  ! 

Ingersoll  is  about  as  good  at  throwing  criticisms  as 
most  women  are  at  throwing  stones.  A  surgeon  was  sew- 
ing up  a  gash  in  a  man's  face,  and  asked  him,  of  course, 
how  he  got  that  wound,  to  which  the  man  replied, — 
**My — my  wife  gave  it  to  me  by  throwing  a  stone.'* 
^^Well,  well,"  remarked  the  surgeon  in  astonishment, 
**  I  never  before  knew  a  woman  to  hit  anything  she  threw 
at.  "  *'  Why,  "  said  the  man,  ''She  was  throwing  at  the 
neighbors'  hens,  I  was  off  back  of  her.  *' 

The  humbuggery  of  IngersolPs  gospel,  when  viewed 
through  the  magnifying  glass  of  common-sense,  is  as 
readily  detected  as  a  humbug  I  read  about  a  while  ago. 
Some  college  students  procured  a  number  of  different  bugs 
and  insects,  took  the  body  of  one,  the  head  of  another,  the 
legs  of  another,  the  tail  of  another,  and  the  wings  of 
another,  etc.,  and  glued  them  together  and  took  their 
peculiar  creature  to  their  professor  and  asked  him  if  he 
could  tell  them  what  kind  of  a  bug  that  was.  He  threw 
his  sharp  eyes  upon  it  and  immediately  replied — **A 
humbug." 

But  talk  about  getting  so  much  intelligence  uiil  of 
this  gospel  of  IngersolPs  !  It  would  be  just  as  sensible  to 
talk  of  getting  milk  out  of  a  turkey.  Reason  indeed  !  I 
think  by  reading  his  reasoning  that  he  got  an  idiul  to 
reason  for  him,  for  it  certainly  seems  liard  i<>  accuse  a 
sensible  man  of  such  unsensible  reasoi!  .: — ni  else,  as  he 
once  said  of  another  man,  "  He  siuuJ  uu  ins  head  and 
reasoned  with  his  feet.  ''     Honestly  I   begin  to  pity  tht' 


i 


\ 


X 


poor  fellow  to  think  he  has  allowed  such  reasoning  to 
come  before  the  public  as  the  product  of  his  intellect. 

Think  of  an  infidel  manufacturing  a  gospel  for  hu- 
manity !  That  is  too  much  like  making  pea  soup  with- 
out a  pea  to  make  it  of . 

One  Samson  of  old  slew  a  thousand  men  with  the 
jaw  bone  of  an  ass.  Mr.  Ingersoll  is  now  wielding  the 
same  weapon  against  Christianity — he  might  as  well  try  to 
shoot  the  man  in  the  moon  with  a  pop  gun.  Here 
endeth  our  chapter  on  IngersolPs  gospel  of  Humor. 


\ 


^104) 


(105) 


t 


\ 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


INGERSOLL  PUZZLED— MYSTERY  EXPLAINED. 


Christ  Did  Not  Write  a  Word,  Nor  Command  Others  to  Write  or  Pre- 
serve His  Saying,  Nor  Sign  the  Writings  Himself;  Christ  Could 
Not  Have  Done  a  Sillier  Thing,  for  He  is  That  Word— No  Com- 
mand to  Preserve  Word  But  Divine  Information  That  it  Would  Be 
Preserved — IngersoU's  Reason  for  Christ's  Writing  Nothing,  Re- 
ply Thereto. 


There  is  another  thing  that  he  can't  get  over,  a  puz- 
zling affair  indeed  to  his  great  intellect,  and  that  is  that 
Christ  did  not  write  any  of  the  New  Testament,  nor  tell 
anybody  else  to  write  anything  or  even  to  preserve  his 
sayings.     I  will  give  you  his  exact  words  : 

*'  You  must  remember  also  one  other  thing.  Christ 
never  wrote  a  solitary  word  of  the  New  Testament — not 
one  word.  There  is  an  account  that  he  once  stooped  and 
wrote  something  in  the  sand,  but  that  has  not  been  pre- 
served. He  never  told  anybody  to  write  a  word.  He 
never  said  :  '  Matthew,  remember  this,  Mark,  do  not  for- 
get to  put  that  down.  Luke,  be  sure  that  in  your  gospel 
you  have  this.     John,  do  notforget  it.  '     Not  one  word. 

(io6) 


V 


J 


{ 


And  it  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  a  being  coming  from 
another  world,  with  a  message  of  infinite  importance  to 
mankind,  should  at  least  have  verified  that  message  by 
his  own  signature.  Is  it  not  wonderful  that  not  one  word 
was  written  by  Christ  ?  Is  it  not  strange  that  he  gave  no 
orders  to  have  his  words  preserved — words  upon  which 
hung  the  salvation  of  a  world?" 

Well,  well,  that  will  do  for  a  baby  mind  and  these 
deluded  scientific  reasoners,  but  certainly  not  for  a  man 
who  is  not  betraying  that  ^'holy  torch-light ' '  of  reason. 
Let  us  see  what  we  can  do  to  help  self-conceited  intelli- 
gence out  of  such  a  dilemma. 

But  I  want  you  to  notice  first  how  much  importance 
he  attaches  to  that  statement.  How  much  force  he  seems 
to  think  there  is  in  that  argument !  It  seems  as  though 
he  tried  doubly  hard,  and  threw  all  the  power  that  he 
could  muster  into  that  saying,  for  he  repeats  it  over  and 
over,  only  in  a  little  different  way,  to  make  sure  of  getting 
the  mind  of  the  reader  onto  that  idea.  It  appears  as 
though  he  thought  there  was  enough,  right  in  that  ar^ru- 
ment^alone,  if  he  can  just  get  us  to  consider  it,  to  over- 
throw the  whole  system  of  Christianity.  But  he  is  labor- 
ing as  usual,  under  a  self-inflicted  hallucination. 

Jesus  Christ,  having  come  to  earth  as  he  did,  to  carry 
out  his  own  plans,  in  fulfilment  of  His  own  Word,  to 
verify  his  promises  to  the  world,  and  to  fulfil  the  pro- 
phecies of  his  own  people,  could  not  have  done  a  sillier 
thing  than  to  have  written  these  sayings  of  his  himself,  and 
then  signed  his  name  to  them.  In  the  first  place  Jesus 
Christ  (in  the  person  of  God  the  father)  wrote  the  law, 
upon  the  tables  of  stone.  The  God  of  the  Old  Testament 
is  the  Christ  of  the  New;  and  the  Christ  of  the  Xtw  Testa- 
ment is  the  God  of  the  Old.  God  sent  Moses  to  deliver 
his  people  from    Egypt  and  said,  ''  Tell  them  I  Am 

(107) 


nm 


sent  you.  ''  In  the  New  Testament  Christ  tells  us  that 
he  is  the  same  ''  I  Am  "  who  sent  Moses  into  Egypt.  He 
said  '^  Before  Abraham  was  I  Am.  "  Hence  is  explained 
the  meaning  of  what  would   be  otherwise  a  dark  saying. 

The  law  He  wrote  himself,  and  he  caused  to  be  writ- 
ten the  prophecies  and  the  things  concerning  himself. 
Many  of  the  things  of  the  Old  Testament  were  written  by 
direct  commandment.  The  book  of  Revelation  contains 
the  gospel  of  Christ  and  a  great  deal  of  prophecy,  and 
that  was  written  by  direct  commandment.  And  if  God 
had  sent  his  message  at  different  times  to  earth,  written 
out,  signed,  God  Almighty,  they  would  not  have  been 
worth  the  paper  on  which  they  were  written.  Not  a 
word  would  have  been  believed.  It  would  have  been 
laughed  to  scorn.  If  Jesus  Christ  had  written,  with  his 
own  hand,  his  own  sayings,  closing  with  his  signature, 
Jesus  Christ,  it  would  not  have  been  worth  the  ink  that  it 
took  to  write  it.     It  would  never  have  spread. 

God  has  put  a  faculty  within  man  which  conveys  to 
him  the  power  of  communicating  with  his  Maker,  and 
what  an  idea  it  would  be  for  him  to  be  sending  his  writ- 
ten messages  with  his  name  signed  !  A  sillier  thing,  who 
could  think  of!  As  the  Almighty  God  conveyed  His 
word  to  a  few  Prophets,  chosen  for  the  purpose,  why 
should  he  have  been  cautioning  them  that  they  be  sure  to 
preserv^e  his  word  and  move  it  along  ?  God  spake  with 
authority  and  He  just  said,  '' It  shall  be  done,''  **Not 
by  might  nor  by  power;  but  by  my  spirit,  saith  the  Lord.  " 
And  again  by  the  mouth  of  Isaiah  He  has  said  :  ''  For 
as  the  rain  cometh  down,  and  the  snow  and  watereth  the 
earth,  and  maketh  it  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may 
give  seed  to  the  sower,  and  bread  to  the  eater  :  So  shall 
my  word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth:  it  shall 
not  return  unto  me  void,  but  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing 

(io8) 


i 


\ 


\ 


^' 


/ 


\ 


whereto  I  sent  it.  ''  These  things  have  been  verified 
down  through  the  ages.  The  word  has  proved  true. 
Nothing  has  been  able  to  overthrow  or  successfully  com- 
bat that  word  of  God. 

But  what  Ingersoll  wants  to  know  is,  why  God — 
Jesus  Christ — while  here  in  the  body,  did  not  write,  nor 
command  the  apostles  to  write,  nor  caution  them  to  pre- 
serve his  words.  *'  Is  it  not  wonderful,  "  says  he,  appar- 
ently puzzled,  ^*  that  not  one  word  was  written  by 
Christ?"  Jesus  Christ  spake  with  authority.  He  said 
it  shall  be  done.  He  said,  ^* Not  one  jot  or  title  of  the 
word  shall  in  any  wise  fail  till  all  be  fulfilled.  Though 
heaven  and  earth  pass  Si^Siy  My  words'' — said  He  with 
authority  which  belonged  to  the  Deity  alone — **  My  words 
shall  not  pass  away,  *'This  gospel  of  the  kingdom," 
Christ  declared,  ''shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world,  for 
a  witness  unto  all  nations;  and  then  shall  the  end  come.  " 

So  now  let  us  allow  him  all  there  is  in  his  argument 
that  Christ  left  no  orders  to  have  his  words  preserved;  and 
he  will  have  to  allow  that  Christ  left  divhte  information  to 
the  effect  that  they  would  be  preserved.  He  will  also 
have  to  allow  that  they  have  been  preserved. 

Then  he  goes  on  to  tell  us  ''Why  nothing  was  writ- 
ten." In  his  judgment  he  says,  "They  expected  the  end 
of  the  world  in  a  few  days.  '  That  generation  was  not  to 
pass  away  until  the  heavens  should  be  rolled  ii])  as  a 
scroll,  and  until  the  earth  should  melt  with  fervent  heat :  '  " 

That  idea  he  gets  from  what  Christ  said  blioull  l)e 
signs  of  his  second  coming.  The  moon  should  1)e  tiiiiicd 
into  blood,  the  sun  darkened,  and  the  stars  sliould  fall 
from  heaven  as  figs  from  its  tree  when  shaken  hx  a  miglity 
wind.     Then  comes  the  declaration  of  Ciiri; 


Ml, 


t1- 


'^  I  Ills 

fl11tl1]_ 


generation  shall  not   pass,  till  all  these  things  bt 

ed. '*     And  Ingersoll  shows  his  ignorance  when  he  ijixcs 


us  to  understand  that  he  understands  ''This  generation" 
to  mean  the  generation  to  which  Christ  was  speaking. 
The  generation  which  should  not  pass  until  Christ  came 
to  earth  again  was  the  generation  that  should  be  living 
and  witness  the  fulfilment  of  that  prophecy  concerning 
the  sun,  moon  and  stars. 


( 


\ 


\ 


^ 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


INGERSOLL'S  GOSPEL  OF  SCIENCE 


Also  Goes  Against  Him,  for  By  It  We  May  Explain,  fiom  Common- 
Sense  Principles,  Miracles  and  Inspiration. 


^ 


(IIO^ 


) 


He  wants  to  fight  us  with  science,  so  let  us  fight  him 
with  his  own  weapon.  If  there  is  anything  tu  ilieir  <o~ 
called  scientific  analysis  of  articles  of  food,  particiilarlv 
brain  food— and  we  have  all  reason  to  believe  there  is^- 1 

should  advise  Mr.  Ingersoll  to  go  west  and  eat  an  oat-lield 

— oats  and  all. 

But  let  us  dispense  with  all  jesting.  While  Mr. 
Ingersoll  so  highly  extols  science  and  I  have  lowered  it  in 
the  thermometer  of  truth  ninety-nine  degrees  out  of  a  hiiii" 

dred,  below  his  mark,  still  I  wish  to  tell  you  that  in  the 
true  spirit  of  science  T  lift  it  to  a  thousand  times  liigher 
and  grander  and  nobler  spheres  than  does  Mr.  Ingersoll 
Let  us  consider  science  from  a  realh.  scientific  standpoint; 
that  done  and  the  inspired  thought,  and  all  the  miracles 
are  plain  enough. 

■Mr.  Ingersoll,  m  that  letter  to  the  N.  Y.  Journal, 
gives  a  long  list  of  the  greatest  miraculous  wonders  spoken 

fill) 


of  in  the  Bible  and  says  that  all  the  inspiration,  and  every 
thing  of  a  miraculous  nature  must  be  thrown  away. 

To  begin  with  it  is  very  evident  that  he  is  as  ignorant 
as  ignorance  itself  concerning  the  meaning  of  the  word 
miracle.  A  miracle  ' '  is  an  act  or  event  beyond  the  known 
laws  of  nature.''  What  then,  may  not  be  called  miracu- 
lous ?  We  know  that  the  food  we  eat  makes  that  life- 
giving  fluid  the  blood,  and  that  each  particular  organ  and 
all  the  different  parts  of  the  system  draws  its  particular 
nourishment  from  the  blood  as  it  takes  its  course  through 
the  body,  and  all  this  through  the  ordained  laws  of  nature; 
but  who  can  comprehend,  who  can  understand  that 
law  ?  Our  laws,  what  are  known  as  the  laws  of  the  land, 
are  constantly  changing ;  but  the  laws  of  nature  are 
unchangeable.  On  that  point  Mr.  Ingersoll  and  I  can- 
not differ.  I  agree  with  him  that  *'  This  is  a  natural 
world — that  the  endless  chain  of  cause  and  effect  has 
never  been  broken."  And  do  not  be  frightened,  dear 
reader,  when  I  make  the  astounding  declaration  tiiat  the 
word  supernatural  must  be  dropped  from  the  vocabulary  of 
the  English  language,  or  our  lexicograplici^  luubl  give  us 
a  reasonable  definition  for  it.  ''  Beyond  nature  "  is  the 
definition  now  given  us.  As  for  the  word  miracle  it  is 
true  that  some  theologians  tell  us  that  a  miracle  is  super- 
natural, a  great  work  performed  by  unnatural  means;  but 
nothing:  could  be  more  absurd.  The  Old  Testament 
records  about  seventy  miracles  and  it  would  be  foolish  lo 
say  that  God  went  lieyond  his  own  fixed — ordained — laws 
to  perform  a  miracle.  For  instance:  a  chemical 
perimenter  hn-ls 


f 


\ 


t  '  V  - 


iuit    l)\-  prnperlv  concocting-   cerlai 


ar 


t  n= 


ciis  that  a  chtinical  process  is  performed  and 
thing  else,  tr.tirelv  different,  containing  none  of 

ina!  articles;   but  in  perfect  accord  with  naturr's  law 


(112) 


lit'  iias  stniie- 


ic  orig- 
liow- 


\ 


1 


ever   impossible   it   may   be    for   man  to  understand  the 
workings  of  those  laws. 

Sugar  is  composed  of  oxygen,  nitrogen  and  carbon, 
and  yet  man  cannot  combine  those  elements  and  make 
sugar.  Alcohol  cannot  be  produced  without  sugar,  but 
no  sugar  can  be  found  in  alcohol  nor  a  trace  of  one  of  the 
component  parts  of  sugar.  And  while  man  with  sugar 
can  produce  alcohol,  he  cannot  with  alcohol  produce 
sugar.  Why  ?  Because  he  don't  know  how.  The  atmos- 
phere contains  all  the  elements  of  sugar,  and  if  man  knew 
how  to  combine  and  concentrate  those  gases  into  sugar  he 
could  produce  sugar  from  the  very  atmosphere.  If  we 
were  to  gaze  toward  yonder  cloud  and  the  mysterious  siglit 
of  a  stream  of  sugar  pouring  to  the  earth  should  meet  our 
view  we  would  sav  "  This  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes! 
What  a  miracle  is  this  !  "  But  would  it  be  supernatural, 
according  to  the  dictionary  definition  of  the  word,  'M^e- 
yond  nature?"  No.  Would  it  be  done  by  unnatural 
means?  No.  It  would  be  done  in  a  perfectly  nam.ral 
way  that  would  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  ordained 
laws  of  nature.  Could  not  He  who  created  the  nniverse, 
who  holds  it  in  His  hand,  as  it  were,  cause  a  conmiotion 
in  the  atmosphere,  among  those  gaseous  elenu  rit>  and 
cause  them  to  so  combine  that  a  chemical  process  would 
be  performed  the  result  of  which  would  be  the  production 
of  sugar?  Scientists  have  already  told  us  that  the  time  is 
not  far  awav  when  the  clothing  we  wear  will  be  produced 
from  the  atmosphere  which  we  breathe. 

Travelers  in.  their  journeys  over  sandy  deserts  have 
all  beheld  the  stran..o;e  sic^ht  of  great  streams  of  sand  shoot- 
ing like  rockets  several  hundred  feet  into  the  air.  Thev 
have  also  seen,  from  some  great  body  of  water,  monstrous 
pillars  or  streams  of  \vater  pouring  froUii  the  ocean  or  lake 
into  the  air.     Thinking  men  said,  "  There  is  a  cause  for 

(113; 


l\ 


such  phenomena,  "  and  set  themselves  about  the  task  of 
learning  the  cause,  and  they  have  quite  admirably  suc- 
ceeded. A  book  as  cheap  and  as  easy  to  get  as  the  Phys- 
ical Geography  explains  them. 

During  tornadoes  houses  burst  outwardly  as  if  there 
were  a  mighty  pressure  within  too  great  for  the  building  to 
withstand.  Physical  geography  mentions  a  miraculous 
feat  performed  during  a  tornado  in  Kansas.  A  cow  own- 
ed by  a  Mr.  Martin  was  taken  up  and  carried  through  the 
air  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  rods,  over 
the  tops  of  trees,  and  allowed  to  alight  upon  the  ground 
one  hundred  and  forty  rods  from  where  it  was  taken,  still 
alive  and  unharmed.  And  yet  these  would-be  scientific, 
no-faith  agnostics  like  Ingersoll  scoff  at  the  Bible  record 
of  Elijah  having  been  carried  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  of 
fire,  and  also  of  a  wind  that  drove  the  quails  up  from  the 
sea  into  the  camp  of  the  Israelites  and  caused  them  to  fly 
down  so  close  to  the  ground  that  the  people  could  easily 
reach  them  and  gather  them  for  food.  But  he  wants 
science  so  let  us  go  on. 

In  every  known  thing  under  heaven,  according  to 
science,  there  exists  but  a  few  substances,  called  elements, 
about  sixty-five  they  tell  us  now,  but  they  tell  us  al^u 
that,  judging  from  what  they  know,  it  is  altogether  prob- 
able that  everything  in  existence  was  formed  from  and 
could  again  be  resolved  to  a  single  substance,  ur  ckmcnt, 
and  that  the  same  matter  is  used  in  the  formation  and 
production  of  every  existing  thin^,  not  only  in  tnu  in 
imate  division— animal  and  vegetable  kin-amn- hut  the 
mineral  also,  the  only  difference  being  m  nature \s  w;i\  of 
combining,  arranging  and  concocting  tliai   iiuitter. 

examples  : 

Carbon — pure  charcoal — nature  can   makt    into  dia- 
monds. 

(114 


i 


I'L 


V 


,/ 


Water  is  composed  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen.     The 
combination  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  gases  results  in  the 
production  of  water.     Fill  two  tanks,  one  with  oxygen, 
the  other  with  hydrogen  gas,  run  a  tube   from  each  tank 
into  one  jet,  bringing  the  two  gases  together  before  letting 
it  escape   and  you  can  thereby  produce  the  most  brilliant 
light,  and   a   heat  so  intense  that  it  will  burn   iron  as  a 
common  fire  will  burn  dry  wood.     NoHce  now  that  while 
what  we  call  water,  in    its  natural  state,    will  not  burn, 
but  is  a  most  powerful  extinguisher  of  fire,   man  can  take 
ike  very  ele^nents  of  which  that  water  is  composed  and  pro- 
duce the  hottest  fire.     So    according  to  science   it  would 
be  a  very  easy  matter  for  this  earth,  water  and  all,  to  he 
consumed  by  fire   according  to  the  scriptural  prophecies. 
Take  several  different  plants,  one  which  will  produce 
a  bitter  fruit,  and  a  deadly  poison;  another  sweet,  another 
sour,  but  both  excellent  for  food;  cultivate  and  raise  them 
all  side  by   side,  all  drawing  their  nourishment  from  ihe 
same  soil  and  the  same  heat  and  light  and  atmosphere  and 
give  me,  if  you  can,  the   philosophy  of  it,  outside  of  the 
common-sense  idea  that  they  are  all  nourished  and  produc- 
ed from  the  same  material  or  element;  but  by  different! v 
concoctiiig,   arranging  and  constituting  that  element  en- 
tirely different  articles  are  produced. 

Oxygen,  according  to  what  scientists  tell  us,  is  the 
most  forward  element  ni  existence,  not  only  in  the  limpid 
fluid  which  cnvers  the  larger  part  of  the  surface  ut  tlie 
tarth;  but  in  the  rocks  and  stones  scattered  hillicr  and 
yon.  ijxygen  tniLcrs  largely  into  the  composition  of  water 
and  also  of  tlu:  hardest  flint. 

(kolocdsts  have  fonnd,  deep  within  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  entonil)ed  in  cavities  in  great  rocks  such  creatures 
as  f^>^■<  and  toacl^,  winch  ha^'c  wlien  In'ought  to  the  at- 
nio.^phere  showed  themselves  to  be  alive  after  liaxini;  been 

(115) 


i 


imprisoned  in  the  rock  for  many  hnndreds  of  years  with- 
out air  and  without  food.  Suspended  animation  ?  We 
do  not  care  what  they  call  it,  all  we  ask  of  them  is  to  be 
honest. 

How  now  can  any  honest,  sane  human  being  say  that 
he  can  believe  these  mysterious  facts  of  science  and  yet 
does  not  believe  the  mysterious  things  of  the  Bible  simply 
because  he  does  not  understand  them,  when  many  of  the 
things  that  science  tells  us  are  as  far  beyond  the  understand- 
ing of  man,  and  are  as  great  and  wonderful  and  mys- 
terious and  miraculous  as  any  or  all  of  the  mysteries  and 
miracles  of  the  Bible?  How  can  anv  honest,  sane  human 
being,  declare  his  faith  in  the  awe-inspiring  incidents  of 
science  and  yet  be  so  foolish  as  to  say  with  Ingersoll  that 
**  All  the  miracles  of  the  Bible  are  the  children  of  ignor- 
ance, cunning  and  mendacity?" 

He  says  :  *'  Throw  away  your  suns  that  pause,  your 
moons  that  rest,  your  quails  and  manna,  your  horns  that 
level  the  walls  of  cities,  the  people  who  walk  in  fire  with- 
out getting  warm,  your  wandering  jugglers  who  raise  the 
dead,  and  cause  pots  to  exude  oil,  your  ravens  that  keep 
hotels  and  feed  Prophets,  your  bushes  that  burn  without 
being  consumed,  your  clothes  that  refuse  to  wear  out'' 
etc.  etc.  ii  the  Bible  recorded  incidents  and  miracles  ex- 
actly like  some  that  scientists  relate  sucli  men  as  Ingersoll 
would  liraiiil  them  with  the  ridiculous  and  tho  impossible. 

Consider  man  in  his  insignificant  mn^cular  and  ])h\^~ 
ical  strmgUi  (or  weaknessj  yet  coupled  with  hiN  mtt Hi- 
i^eticc  what  wondur>  does  he  perf(»rni  '  Wdiat  ])u\verinl 
machinery   is    manipulated   by    the   hand  ol    na,an  !      Man 


/ 


kllijW: 


liow    lo    nut    Ids 


macldiierv   into    iiiotioii 


lie 


knows  how  to  >t(.uj  it,  auvi  no  honol  man  cvm  ;-a.\-  that  He 
wlio  created  and  manipulates  tlu*  macidner\-  of  the  uid- 
veise  could   not  as   easily  stop  a  planet  m  its  course   as  a 

(ii6; 


/ 


\ 


man  can  put  the  brake  onto  a  horsepower  and  stop  it,  or  as 
an  engineer  can  bring  the  machinery  to  a  stand-still  by 
shutting  off  steam. 

When  we  consider,  in  the  face  of  sound  philosophy 
and  true  science,  the  strange  and  mysterious  workings  and 
formations  and  productions  of  the  elements  of  the  simple 
atmosphere  which  we  breathe,  it  is  foolish  to  say  that 
the  intelligent  and  designing  mind  of  the  universe,  who 
is  all  scientific,  and  understands  the  philosophy  of  all 
things,  could  not  cause  manna  to  fall  in  the  camp  of  the 
Israelites,  or  level  the  walls  of  cities,  or  give  a  man  the 
power  to  raise  a  dead  person,  or  influence  a  bird  to  carry 
food  to  a  human  being,  and  all  this  by  natural  means;  but 
a  means  that  man  cannot  give  the  whole  philosophy  of 
any  more  than  he  can  give  the  entire  philosophy  of  life, 
or  of  any  element  or  substance  in  existence. 

Ingersoll  denies  inspiration  saying,  ''Throw  away  all 
the  ravings  of  the  inspired,  "  and  still  he  clings  to  science, 
and  thus  do  we  fight  him  with  his  own  weapon,  for  you 
see  that  we  need  know  very  little  of  science  to  clearly 
define     and     prove     inspiration     and    the     working     of 

nnracles. 

Science  tells  us  that  our  thoughts  are  HvinR' tilings,  ^^^  ^ 
and  we  know  tliat  all  who  are  not,  in  angry  passion  or  in'  ^  ' 
quiet  Simplicity  wading  along  in  tlie  cess-pool  of  ignor- 
ance, know  for  themselves,  from  observation  and  ex- 
perience, that  our  thoughts  are  living  things  and  that  they 
travel  the  atmosphere,  annihilating  both  space  and  sub- 
stance, and  often  impress  themselves  upon  tlie  mind  of 
somebody  of  whom  we  ma\-  f)e  thinkino-.  And  just  at 
this  point  comes  to  mind  the  proof  of  inspiration  as  taken 
from  Ingersoirs  argument  in  the  lecture,  (See  chapter  3 
of  this  book)  .  "Oh  !"  somebody  may  say,  "that  is  onh-  a 
case  of   telepathy,  mind-reading,  her  husband  being  alive 


she  knew  his  thoughts,  and  felt  an  inward  evidence  that 
he  was  alive,  but  did  not  know  that  she  was  being  im- 
pressed with  thoughts  emanating  from  her  husband's 
mind,  from  a  human  magnet.  Allowed,  but  that  does  not 
effect  the  argument  as  a  scientific  proof  of  inspiration. 

I  suppose  that  our  ability  to  influence  other  people  by 
the  quiet  force  of  our  mind  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the 
amount  of  those  properties  that  science  has  named  vitality 
and  magnetism,  which  we  possess,  and  also  upon  the  sen- 
sitiveness of  the  person  upon  whom  we  put  our  mind. 
Now,  to  speak  from  a  scientific  standpoint,  just  as  Mr. 
Ingersoll  asks  us  to  do,  if  man,  only  a  midget  of  a  magnet, 
without  a  look  or  a  visible  sign  or  a  sound  or  a  word,^  with 
his  own  thoughts  can  impress  a  fellow-creature  it  is  but 
madness  to  say  that  the  living  omnipotent  omniscient  mag- 
net in  the  boundless  universe  could  not  reveal  his  thoughts 
to  one  of  his  creatures  at  will,  and  no  man  can  study  the 
prophetic  records  of  the  Bible  without  knowing  that  God 
revealed  a  great  deal  of  his  mind  concerning  this  world, 
to  the  Hebrew  Prophets. 

Faith  is  a  parasite  whose  poisonous  vines  must  be 
uprooted,  says  Ingersoll.  Oh  !  but  where  is  your  science? 
Science  tells  us  that  there  is  that  within  man  that  nuikt  s 
him  believe  in  the  Deity  and  in  the  divine  power.  An  1 
you  may  talk  and  speculate  as  you  will,  and  U)  as  hard  as 
you  may  to  make  yourself  and  others  Lluiik  that  \()ii  do 
not  believe  ;  hnt  you  know  that  you  do  believe,  aiil  thai  iii 
spite  of  yourself.  Science  tells  us  that  llic  pliri<)-.r>])lu  of 
miracles  wrought  by  faith  is,  that  that  tin<^een  ck  incut  ot 
the  mind,  in  conjunction  and  operation  withiialurc,  cul-cs 
an  alchemical   process,    as  it   were,    winch    pcrfunns    the 

mystery. 

Thus  do  we  see  that   it  is    iin|)ossible  to    iiivc-^tigate 

science,  with  honesty  and  reason,  with  ait  finding  that  the 

(ii8) 


i 


r 


^ 


miracles  of  the  Bible  are  as  easily  performed  as  are  the 
mysteries  of  science,  and,  like  them,  are  performed  by 
perfectly  natural  means.  No  transaction,  strictly  speak- 
ing, whether  by  man  or  by  God  can  be  unnatural. 

Ingersoll  calls  for  a  gospel  of  humor;  but  according 
to  science  a  righteous  spirit  of  humor  is  produced  only  by 
the  development  and  exercise  of   the  moral   and  religious 

faculties. 

Scientists  have  been  at  work  endeavoring  to  extract 
from  the  walls  of  buildings  the  thoughts  of  men  spoken 
within  those  buildings,  the  scientific  fact  being  that  as  our 
thoughts  are  living  things,  possessing,  in  the  technical 
terms  of  science,  life  and  vitality  and  magnetism,  they 
penetrate  anything  and  leave  their  impression  just  as  dis- 
tinctly  as  the  printing  press  leaves  the  impression  of  the 
type  on  the  paper,  so  that  man,  if  he  could  only  learn 
how,  could  read  thought  as  it  becomes  imprinted  upon 
the  atmosphere,  or  anything  else,  just  as  readily  as  he  can 
read  the  printed  matter  from  the  paper. 

Now,  in  the  face  of  science  and  intelligence  it  would 
be  unreasonable  not  to  believe  the  Bible  record  that  God 
keeps  books  and  that  a  record  is  kept  of  each  individual 
life,  and  that  a  book  of  life  is  kept  in  which  is  registered 
the'names  of  those  who  accept  the  conditions  of  eternal 
life.  It  is  in  keeping  with  science  and  reason  thai  a  time 
oi  icckuiiiiig  must  come  when  the  books  will  be  opened. 
God  does  not  do  thinirs  by  halves. 

Brother  Ingersoll  denies  these  Bible  truths  and  tries 
to  argue  Lheiii  away  ;  Inil  bear  with  me  while  I  repeal,  lie 
argues  them  into  existence.  Let  us  see  wdiether  he  be- 
li^^es  these  tilings.  On  page  73  of  the  leclnre  where  he 
exalts  liinibeli  al)Ove  accepting  of  llie  atonement  of  our 
Saviour  he  says,  ''  I  no  nnt  wisli  to  eo  lo  heaven  unless  I 
can  settle  by  the  books.'' 


t-) 


See  !  There  is  that  ivithin  man  that  compels  him.  to 
believe^  and  acknowledge  his  beliefs  in  these  things^ 
ivhether  he  would  or  not? 


i 


CHAPTER  XV. 


^\ 


MISCE-LIvANEOUS    GLEANINGS. 


Calvin— Voltaire— Melhoclist  Converts— Flood— Babel  Tower— Science 

— Goofl  Times  Coming. 


} 


1 

\ 


^120") 


Ingersoll  says  the  ''  Presbyterian  church  was  founded 
by  John  Calvin,  a  murderer!  ''  And  that  ''  John  Calvin, 
having  power  in  Geneva,  inaugurated  fiuinaii  torture:" 

What  are  the  facts?  John  Calvin  is  not  t  \eii  accused 
of  taking  the  life,  himself  directly,  of  even  one  individnal  ; 
but  he  is  accused  of  causing  (notice  that  the  accirsatiou 
only  could  be  produced^  the  death  of  an  eclncated  Span- 
iard, named  Servetus,  condemnation  liaving  been  passed 
upon  \vA\\  to  the  effect  that  he  should  be  committed  aHve, 
to  the  flames,  because  of  the  ideas  he  advanced  regarding 
the  Trinity.  It  is  admitted  that  Calvin  persecuted,  and 
did  not  keep  in  the  path  of  tlie  L:<'S])e]  in  his  treatment  of 
this  man;  bnt  history  tells  us  tins  :  ^^  That  he  exercised 
so  arbitrary  a  control  over  the  destinv  of  this  unfortnnate 
individual,  as  some  have  atteirnned  to  prove,  there  is  much 

(121) 


reason  to  doubt/'  Yet  Ingersoll  would  convey  the  idea  to 
the  public  that  Calvin  inaugurated  human  torture  whereby 
he  and  his  followers  tortured  their  fellow-men  who  would 
not  succumb  to  their  doctrines;  but  it  is  not  true.  Calvin 
was  a  great  reformer,  and  to  use  the  exact  words  of  his- 
tory, ''  At  Geneva,  as  a  central  point,  '  he  was  the  light  of 
the  church,  the  oracle  of  the  laws,  and  the  fountain  of 
literature  and  science.  He  was  a  powerful  factor  in  caus- 
ing the  Roman  church  to  abandon  some  of  her  abuses  in 
doctrine  and  discipline.'  " 

For  the  purpose  of  this  argument,  just  now,  we  will 
say  that  Calvin  caused  the  death  of  that  man,  Servetus. 
One  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  of  Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A.,  a 
great  man  who  proposes  the  reformation  of  the  world  by  a 
gospel  which  he  calls  his  own,  has  caused  the  death  of  12 
individuals,  to  say  the  least.  The  New  York  papers  gave 
an  account  of  12  people  who  took  their  life  and  left  notice 
in  their  own  hand  writing,  that  IngersolPs  talk  was  the 
cause  of  it,  and  this  in  New  York  City  alone. 

So  this  great  and  good  man,  who  says  ''  he  will  never 
ask  any  God  to  treat  him  better  than  he  treats  his  fellow- 
men,"  is  a  wholesale  murderer  whereas  if  the  mere 
accusation,  without  any  proof,  of  Calvin's  enemies  were 
true  he  caused  the  death  of  only  one  person. 

Ingersoll  says,  *'  Voltaire  abolished  torture  in  France." 
Is  it  true?  No.  Who  did?  Napoleon  Buonaparte,  to 
whom  the  zi'or/d  ascribes  the  honor  of  having  annihilated 

the  inquisition. 

He  tells  about  the  Methodists  having  ''  converted  130- 
000  folk  in  a  year  through  the  influence  of  26,000  preachers, 
226,000  Sunday-school  scholars,  and  $100,000,000  of 
property.  He  consulted  history  and  found  there  were  40 
to  50  millions  of  people  born  a  year  and  asks,  ''  If  they 
are  saved  at  the  rate  of   130,000  a  year,   about  how  long 

(122J 


r 


> 


V 


r 

/ 


will  it  take  that  doctrine  to  save  the  world?"—''  Consis- 
sistency  thou  art  a  jewel!"  As  though  the  aggregate 
conversions  of  the  other  evangelical  societies  did  not  far 
exceed  the  Methodist.  He  talks  here  as  though  the  Meth- 
odist church  was  the  only  church.  Well,  well,  quite  a 
compliment  for  a  noted  infidel !  But  notice  his  reasoning 
again .  Here  he  carries  the  idea  that  the  church  claims  it 
will  save  the  w/w/e  world;  and  on  page  87  of  the  same 
book  he  carries  the  idea  that  the  church  claims  that  about 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  are  doomed  for  hell. 
Anything  for  argument. 

Next,  in  the  journal,  he  says,  ''We  know  that  the 
story  of  the  flood  is  not  true  ;  we  know  that  the  Tower  ui 
Babel  story  is  idiotic:" 

I  wish  he  would  explain  how  he  knows  the  story  of 
the  deluge  is  false.  This  much  is  certain,  as  long  as  dis- 
coveries and  events  keep  proving  more  and  more  the  his- 
tory and  prophecies  of  the  Bible  we  will  be  obliged  to 
believe  the  Bible  instead  of  Mr.  Ingersoll.  But  we  know, 
I  quote  from  the  ^^  Museum  of  Antiquity,"  that  ^'Berosus, 
the  Chaldean  historian  quoted  by  Josephus  ;  and  Abidenus 
by  Eusebius,  Plutarch,  Lucian,  Molo,  Nicholas  Diiiiias- 
cenus,  as  well  as  many  of  the  heathen  poets,  mention  tlie 
flood,  and  some  traditions  respecting  it  are  to  be  found 
among  the  Americans  and  Chinese." 

Speaking  of  Dr.  Hall,  he  says,  "  He  ought  to  know 
that  there  are  two  accounts  of  the  flood.  In  one  account 
Noah  takes  into  the  ark  one  pair  of  each  specie^  ^A  in  ing 
things;  according  to  the  other  he  takes  seven  pairs  of  the 
clean  and  one  of  the  unclean." 

I  wonder  if  Mr.  Ingersoll  ever  studied  grainniai .  If 
so  I  wonder  if  he  ever  learned  the  rules  m  his  lesson  and 
then  with  a  good  deal  of  confidence  got  his  lesson  out 
according  to  the  rules,  applying  ilioiu  as  lie  supposod  with 

(123) 


the  skill  of  an  expert,  and  boldly  displayed  his  ability,  to 
find,  to  his  great  surprise,  that  he  had  made  very  bungling 
work  of  the  lesson  for  having  adhered  so  strictly  to  his 
rules.  How  could  that  be  ?  Why,  by  failing  to  read,  or 
at  least  to  heed,  the  exceptions  to  those  rules,  printed 
right  under  them.  In  this  case,  in  sacred  history,  the 
rule  was  to  take  every  living  thing  by  two's,  in  pairs,  the 
male  and  his  female ;  when  immediately  came  the  excep- 
tion to  the  rule,    which  was  to  take  seven  pairs  of  the 

clean. 

I  wish  now  to  tell  you  of  something  still  in  existence 
and  let  the  reader  judge  for  himself  whether  ''  The  Bible 
story  of  the  Babel  Tower,''  or  Mr.  IngersolPs  stories  are 
idiotic.  I  never  visited  Babylon,  the  ancient  city  of 
Babel,  so  I  will  quote  from  the  many  who  have  been  there, 
giving  you  the  exact  words  of  the  '^  Museum  of  Anti- 
quity:'' 

**The   Ancient   Tower  of  Babel  is  now  a  mound  of 
oblong  form,    the    total    circumference   of    which  is  2286 
feet.     At  the  Eastern  side   it  is  cloven  by  a  deep  furrow 
and  is  not  more  than  fifty  or  sixty   feet  high,  but  on  the 
Western  side   it    rises   to  a  conical    figure  " — notice    the 
shape,  exactly  the  shape  that  men  undertaking  to  build  such 
a  tower,  would  make  it— ''to  the  elevation   of   198  feet, 
and  on  its  summit  is  a  solid  pile  of  brick  thirty-seven  feet 
in  height  and  twenty-eight  feet  in  breadth,  diminishing  in 
thickness  to  the  top,  which  is  broken  and  irregular  and 
rent  by   large    fissures  extending   through  a  third   of   its 
height;  it  is  perforated  with  small  holes.     The  fire  burnt 
bricks  of  which  it  is  built  have  inscriptions  on  them,  and 
so  excellent  is  the  cement  that  it  is  nearly  impossible  to 
1  v:    !      one  wh  >le.     The  other  parts  of  the  sunnnit  of  this 
hi:;   ire  occupied  by  immense  fragments  of  brick  work  of 
no    :  I  nninate  figure,    tumbled    together   and    converted 

(124) 


i 


V 


into  solid  vitrified  masses,  as  if  they  had  undergone  the 
action  of  the  fiercest  fire  or  had  been  blown  up  by  gun 
powder,  the  layers  of  brick  being  perfectly  discernable." 
Consider  now  the  shape  of  the  mound,  the  solid  pile  of 
brick  thirty-seven  feet  high  and  twenty-eight  in  breadth, 
the  shape  thereof  and  the  powerful  manner  in  which  they 
are  cemented,  etc.,  and  see  if  you  could  disbelieve 
the  Bible  story  of  the  Babel  Tower  even  though  you 
wanted  to. 

The  last  sentence  in  his  letter  to  the  Journal  is, 
'^Science  is  the  only  possible  savior  of  the  human  race." 
He  should  make  himself  better  understood  and  tell  us 
what  science  is  to  do  this.  It  certainly  cannot  be  Inger- 
soU's  science  of  nothing. 

What  is  science  ?  Lexicography  defines  it  thus : 
''Knowledge;  truth  ascertained."  There  are  almost  in- 
numerable branches  of  science,  and  some  of  these  brandies 
are  cut  up  into  a  great  many  subdivisions  with  eacii  partv 
contending  for  the  truth  of  his  own  division,  and  everv 
one  of  them  at  war  with  every  one  of  them,  each  one 
preaching  and  teaching  different  ideas  and  theories,  and 
pleading  his  case  with  the  expertness  of  what  they  call 
scientific  facts  and  arguments,  which,  to  their  iiiind,  is 
evidence  that  they  have  ascertained  the  truth,  and  thiere 
may  be  twenty  of  them  each  claiming  itself  correct  because 
they  are  called  scientific.  The  medical  science,  for  in- 
stance, the  facts  of  which  most  everybody  knows  eiioiighi 
about  so  that  we  need  not  enlarge  upon  this  subject. 

Science,  says  the  dictionary,  is  "  tnitli  ascertained,'' 
yet  science  we  all  know,  often  reverses  itself  and  is  con- 
stantly changing.  Scientific,  or  "  trntli  ascertained" 
facts,  before  they  are  hardly  cold  from  the  printing  press 
are  exploded,  yea,  the  scientist  often  finds  his  own  Uruth 
ascertained"  facts  to  be  false  before  he  gets  tlicin  ready  for 

^125) 


\ 


the  press.  Where  then  is  your  science,  if  science  is  ''truth 
ascertained?"  for  bear  in  mind,  truth  is  unchangeable 
while  your  science,  so-called,  is  constantly  changing ;  but 
when  a  thing  really  reaches  a  scientific  basis  and  becomes 
a  settled  fact  the  world  over,  doubted  by  nobody,  it  is  no 
longer  called  science— Why,  what  then?  Oh,  just  com- 
mon knowledge,  every  body  knows  it  then.  And  right 
here  comes  in  a  really  great  truth  spoken  by  Mr.  Ingersoll : 
*'  This  is  a  natural  world,  the  endless  chain  of  cause  and 
effect  has  never  been  broken."  But  if  we  allow  science 
the  credit  given  it  by  him,  his  own  statement  just  quoted, 
falls  to  the  ground.  The  scientist  endeavors  to  reason 
from  cause  to  effect  and  from  effect  to  cause,  and  arrives 
at  a  conclusion  of  a  thing,  and  he  works  and  tinkers  and 
experiments  and  finds  the  conclusion  correct,  and  he  says, 
"  Common-sense  shows  this  to  be  true,  and  nature  shows 
this  to  be  true,  and  this  link  in  the  endless  chain  of  cause 
and  effect  is  welded  together,  and  there  is  no  breaking  it," 
when,  "  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,"  some- 
body proves  the  theory  false  and  that  link  is  snapped  in 
two  and  the  chain  is  broken. 

Ingersoll  believes  "  The  time  will  come  when  the 
public  thought  will  be  so  great  and  grand  that  it  will  be 
looked  upon  as  infamous  to  perpetuate  disease  and 
man    will     not    fill    the   future   with    consumption    and 

insanity. 

He  is  right  in  that  idea,  but  he  is  looking  in  the 
wrong  direction  for  those  good  times.  But  those  good 
times  are  certainly  coming.  They  will  be  here  at  the 
appointed  time,  for  the  Bible  declares  it.  The  Prophets 
have  foretold  it,  nnd  thev  have  told  us  something  of  how 
it  is  to  be  done,  it  won't  be  done  until  after  Jesus  Christ 
comes  and  takes  "  the  government  upon  his  shoulders," 
and  reigns  king  of  kings,  "  from  sea  to  sea  and  from  the 

(126) 


f 


river  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth."  But  as  Ingersoll  flatly 
and  vehemently  denies  Christ  the  privilege  of  giving  him 
a  certificate  of  citizenship  to  that  kingdom  he  won't  be 
here  to  enjoy  those  good  times. 


V 


/ 


(127) 


0* 


f 


I 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


IN  CONCLUSION. 


I  wish  to  say  that  I   have  no   personal  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Ingersoll  and  however  strong  I  may  have  spoken 
in  this  book  it  is  not  because  I  have  any  feeling  of  ill-will 
for  him  ;  and  I  have  no  apology  to  make  and  nothing  from 
which  to  recant,  unless  convinced   that  I  am   wrong,  and 
that  by  common-sense,  honest  argument ;  but  Mr.  Inger- 
soll is  not  honest  in  his  arguments,  and  that  I  have  shown 
you  over  and  over  again  in  this  book  ;    but   look   at  one 
more  instance  found  on  page   79  of   the  lecture,   where  he 
says  that  we   ''believe  in  the  eternal  blessedness  of   the 
righteous,  and  eternal  punishment  of  the  wicked,  and  call 
that  tidings  of  great  joy,"  and  that  we  '^believe  that  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  he  made  up  his  mind  to  damn  the 
most  of  us."     It  matters  not   if  you   do  call   that   wit  or 
ironical  sarcasm,  because  he   knows  that   we  believe  that 
''  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he   gave    his  only  begotten 
Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  might  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life,"  thus  giving  sinful  man   an  oppor- 
tunity to  be  redeemed,  andhe  know^  nbo  that  ih  it  i:^  what 
we  call  ''tidings  of  great  joy,"  and  not    that   anv  were  to 
enter  condemnation  ;  and  the  only   excuse  possible   to  be 

(128; 


X 


/ 


; 


found  for  Mr.  Ingersoll  is  that  he  "Is  not  willing  to 
come  to  the  light."  If  I  could  find  no  stronger  argu- 
ment to  support  my  views  than  sarcasm,  of  an  untruthful 
nature,  call  it  wit  or  what  you  please,  I  would  say  nothing. 
Would  not  your  own  feelings  become  quite  intense 
towards  those  who  call  themselves  honest  infidel  reason- 
ers,  as  you  considered  these  subjects  while  studying  them  as 
propounded  by  Mr.  Ingersoll?— To  get  a  better  conception 
of  the  matter  just  now  please  turn  back  to  chapter  2nd  and 
read  again  IngersolPs  account  of  the  penitent  thief  on  tiie 
cross  at  the  time  of  the  Saviour's  crucifixion. 

A  reverend  gentleman  was  attending  a  camp-nieetinir 
in  Sheldon,  Vt.  Before  his  turn  came  to  preaclu  ai  the 
sound  of  the  name  of  Ingersoll  by  a  brother  preaclier,  a 
voice  was  heard  saying,  ''Oh,  let  the  dead  rest  1  '  And 
after  the  above  had  taken  place  In  a  Methodist  camp- 
meeting,  T  can  imagine  thai  this  first  ])rot}ier  (Rev.  A.  W. 
Ford)  just  aclied  to  get  into  the  pnlpit  liimself.  When 
the  opportuiiily  came  he  gave  them  a  calling  down. 
Amoncr  other  things  he  said  :  "  Yon  can  talk  about  such 
men  as  W'ashintrton  and  Lincoln  and  useful  men  of  the 
past,  but  when  }-ou  come  to  mention  a  mar.  like  Ingersoll, 
the  devil  says,   '  Oh,  let  the  dead  rest!  '  '' 

Tins  same  Ford  was  living  in  Boston  a  few  years  ago. 
lie  was  a  man  of  the  world  who  went  in  for  a  liigh-o-time. 
He  made  lic^ht  of  religion  and  the  Bible  the  same  as  Inger- 
soll did.  He  wanted  to  make  sure  of  heaven  hi  the  end 
bin  he  did  not  waul  to  leaxe  the  old  behind  and  make  for 
the  new  life.  To  use  Ins  own  words,  ''I  wanted  to  go  to 
heaven  but  I  wanted  to  climb  up  some  other  way,"  and  if 
tPRre  was  any  wa>  to  do  so  he  was  bound  to  find  it  out. 
As  a  last  resort  he  deternnned  to  see   what  Ingersoll  could 

do  for  him. 

Mr.    Ini^ersuU   was  due  to  give  his  lecture,  "What 

(129) 


Must  We  Do  to  be  Saved?"     Mr!  Ford  lotted  on  hearing 
■;,..,,,,  perchance  he  might  find  a  way  to  quiet  lus  conscience 
without  yielding  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.     He  was  d  sap 
iK,nUed,  however,  in  not  being  able  to  arrange  bu  mess 
matters  so  he  could  attend  the   lecture.     Wrat   cou  d  be 
done  ■>     The  next  day  some  paper  came  out  with  the  longed- 
for  iecture  in  it.     As  soon  as  possible  that  evening    Mr. 
F.  ■'    ^vHh  an  anxious  heart,  purchased  a  paper  and  has- 
,,;:,  ,. 'his  room  to  read  the  glad  tidings   that   were   to 
feed  his  hungry  soul ;  but,  alas !   for  he  found  no  ba  m  for 
the  aching  heart,  no  rest  for  the  weary  soul !     Nothing  to 
fill  the  aching  void  within  !     He  was   further   than   ever 
fr,.-,r,.!.~coveringameans   of    "climbing   up  ;«"l^«th^^ 
, .  „.,i   ,,o^v  hnnust  come  to  the  gospel  of  Christ   or 

rcni.i;)'.  undone  forever. 

"  T',  a  lecture,"  said  he,  "  had  more  to  do  than  any- 
thing else',  with  my  conversion.  The  unreasonablene.ss 
of  the  thing,"  as  he  expressed  it.  That  -an  became  a 
C!-....:.n  evangelist  and  for  some  years  past  has  been  a 
V  ■  :;;:-,>,  w,. KUDUS  egure  in  the  Vermont  M.lhodist  confer- 
^u,„  kr.,,v:.  and  loved  as  the  Rev.  A.  W     l^ord. 

\ncurdiug  lu  Ihe  testimony  of  converted  infidels,  t- 
V,e  v,iP.)iged  into  a  literal  hell  could  uul  cause  .U.!-.^  a:.ony 
oi  .'uul  iluu,  they  suffer,  at  times,  by  their  f^.-.i.u.p.  ciuu  ., 
„P<.n  r.-.fidelitv.  Some  of  them  have  been  ho.K>i  cuuv.^,, . 
at  >nuc.,  vvc!!  before  their  conver^on,  to  ackuuNs  ,c.lge 
their  h-cUnus  ana   convictions,   an^   ilu    onlv  cxcn..  tnev 


/ 


u;  \''  s 


would  make  fur  n«>l  vicldiii^  t* 

of  conscienct-  would  he  the  ao:onixiii 


i^je  oi  ilie  <\nni  and 


"  I  am    an    in- 


fnk-i:      !   am   an    m.ti.li- 


{„.,r^<.-    \.',vvVk   jusl  iircvunis 


tohisconvers-a.„,  wluu  down  .m  hi>  kuce^    ui    agony  of 

soul  used  llK'Sc  \cr\    words. 

Thf-iu'vil  T<.m    I'avne  was  at   a  dinner  partv    once 
when  a  contr..vcr>y  aro=c  conccrnm-  l!ic  fuiure  destiny  of 

'•130) 


\ 


y 


/ 


V 


man.  A  lady  said  to  him,  "  Why  do  you  not  say  some- 
thing, we  want  to  hear  from  you,"  to  which  he  repi-.ca. 
"  Madame,  I  have  nothing  to  say,  I  am  silent  ot  necessity^ 
I  have  friends  in  both  places."  Tlie  awful  aeath-bed 
scene  of  Tom  Payne  is  too  well  known  to  need  mention- 

'"^  'vokaire,  when  old,  was  stricken  with   weakness  and 
disease,  and  thinking  his  end  at  hand  lu-  was  fnghtened 
and  cried  aloud  for  a  priest,  and  the  pnest  came  and  \  ol- 
taire  confessed.     "  But,"  according  to  Tue   Plncvclop.^dia 
Brittanica,  "  he  recovered  and  scoffed  at  Inmseh  as  usual. 
This  Voltaire,    although  an  open   enemv  to  the  Lible  and 
Christianity  and  an  avowed  infidel-preacher  and  spreader 
of  infidel    doctrines    that    led  to  the    l.Tench   Revolution 
in  a  moment  of  conscientious  ihougln  expressed    unnse, 
in  a  noted  poem  thus  :-T  quote  from   Cuizofs  History  of 

France; —  ,  .  , 

"  O  God,  whom  men  ignore,  whom  ever^■thlng  reveals, 
Hear  thou  the  latest  words  of  him  ^vho  now  appeals, 
'T?s  searching  out  thy  law  that  l^atli  bewnldered  me  ; 
My  heart  may  go  astray,  but  it  is  tml  of  .  hee. 

The  same  historv  speaks  o!  Diderot,  one  of  \  oltaire  s 
associates,  as  being  an  avowed   infi.lel   and   as   having  be- 
come   the   boldest    of  the  leaders  ,n  the   crusade  again 
Clni.truuty,    which  led  to    the    French    Revolution       I 
says  that  he  would  reoo.nize  no  moral  law  but  the  natura 
impulse  of  the  soul  and  quotes  him  as  saying       There  is 
,,0  virtue  nr  vice,    but   ,„„ate  goodness  or  badness  ;      and 
yet  ni  one  lUerary  production  he  wrote,    "  O  God  I   know 
not  whether  Thon  art.  but  I  will  think  as  if  thou  didst  see 
,„,„  ,„v  .onl,  I  will  act  as  if  I  were  in  thy  presence. 

/  ]a>r  not  h,m-  smart,  secretive  or  shrewd  a  person 
mav  be  it  is  impossihle  to  go  through  life  and  not  reveal  a 
l„i„t  ,n  the  Deity.  In  these  words  they  are  talking 
dir.'cllv  fi'  Ihf  Cod  they  deny.  ■     ■ 


( 


13=) 


An  infidel  was  asked  by  a  little  girl  over  whom  he 
was  guardian,  if  it  was  any  use  to  pray,  and  he  told  her 
**  Yes."  On  telling  about  it  after  his  conversion  he  said, 
**Of  course  I  told  her  yes,  what  else  could  I  say?'^ 
Another  infidel  was  asked  by  his  dying  daughter,  ** Whose 
faith  do  you  want  me  to  die  in,  yours  or  mother's?'' 
**Your  mother's,  by  all  means,"  was  his  immediate  and 
earnest  reply. 

Mark  Twain,  notwithstanding  his  pretended  infidelity, 
makes  the  astonishing  acknowledgement  that  his  head  is 
caused  to  swim  in  the  depths  of  the  surging  ocean  of  be- 
wilderment when  he  thinks  of  the  insignificant  little  coun- 
try that  gave  birth  to  Christianity.  I  will  quote  a  few 
words  from  his  *'  Innocents  Abroad  :  " 

^*  One  of  the  most  astonishing  things  that  have  yet 
fallen  under  our  observation  is  the  exceedingly  small  por- 
tion of  the  earth  from  which  sprani^  the  now  flourishing 
plant  of  Christianity.  The  longest  joiiriiey  our  vSaviour 
ever  performed  was  from  here,"  (Capernaum^  **  to  Jeru- 
salem— about  one  hundred  to  one  hundrerl  and  twenty 
miles.  The  places  made  most  particularly  celebrated  by 
the  presence  of  Christ  are  nearly  all  right  here  iii  full 
view,  and  within  cannon-shot  nf  Capcniaiiiii.  Leux  inc^ 
out  two  or  three  short  journeys  of  iIk  Saviour,  he  -}>i  iit 
Iii:5  iiic,  preached  his  gospel,  ami  perioruicd  lii^  miracles 
within  a  compass  no  lar^-erthan  an  ordinary  coiuil\-  \n  llie 
r  lilted  States.  //  zs  as  much  as  1  can  do  to  comprehend 
this  stupifying  fact,^^      (The  italics  arc  mine.) 


r 


i^Iaiiy  believers  have  either  read  or  lieard  lliese  say- 
ings of  Inc^ersoirs  aiid  have  been  liarrasscd  l)v  <loiil)ts  and 
fear^.,  and  have  thus  been  tronhled  conceniin^^'  tliese 
tliiiit^s,  and  thinking  that  they  couhl  not  answer  him  to 
tb.eir  satisfaction,  and  lailiiig  Lu  look  iiilu  the  iiiatter  suf- 

(132) 


^^. 


J 


y 


\ 


ficiently  to  eliminate  every  doubt,  they  have  said  or 
thought,  *'Well,  I  don't  know  but  there  is  something  to 
I  ngersoll '  s  talk  after  all . " 

But  the  very  fact  that  we  may  connive  as  we  please  to 
find  true  peace  and  rest  outside  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  but 
always  in  vain,  should  be  enough  to  keep  us  from  going 
after  anything  else.  The  very  fact  that  no  man  can  think 
of  the  Bible,  that  no  man  can  take  the  Bible  into  his  hands 
without  feeling  an  influence  for  good,  and  receiving  an 
impression  different  and  greater  than  comes  to  him  from 
thinking  about  or  touching  any  other  book  or  writing  that 
was  ever  produced  or  ever  will  be  produced,  and  brings  to 
him  involuntarily,  a  feeling  that  God  is,  and  that  that  book 
contains  information  from  the  Eternal,  should  be  suf- 
ficient evidence  for  anybody. 

In  closing  I  wish  to  say  that  I  desire  to  cast  no  reflec- 
tions upon  any  good  work,  word  or  deed,  whether  of  Mr.  lii- 
gersoll's  or  anybody's  else.     The  object  of  this  book  is  to 
give  to  its  readers  the  results  of  my   thinking  and  earnest 
meditation  upon  some  of   the   thoughts  written  by  I  nger- 
soll, that  caused  me  to  say,  I  will  try  and  see  what  there 
is  in  this.     And  believing  that  the  thoughts  to  which  that 
study  gave  rise  were  worth  printing,  I  said,  I  will  write  a 
book,  and  I  trust    that   my    belief    will  prove  to  be   well 
founded.     I  hope  and  pray  that  this  book   may   prove  in- 
teresting, instructive  and  beneficial  to  many  readers.      And 
if  there  is  anything  in   argtimeiil  where  iiovv  do  \  on  place 
Ingersollism.  in  the  front  ranks  or   in   the  back-gronnd  ? 
/  would  like  to  hear  fro7n  you. 

With  good  wishes  for  you,  dear  reader,  for  Mr.  liiger- 

soll  and  all  mankind,  I  ann 

Sincerely  yours  for  goud, 

PAGE  AI^^'RED  COCHRAX. 

Vi33^ 


\ 


f 


V 


\ 


s 


y 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


SINCE  INGERSOU<  DIED. 


y 


II 


After  having  written  this  reply  to  Ingersoll  (while  it 
was  being  type-written)  Mr.  Ingersoll  passed  away.  His 
address  at  his  brother's  funeral  has  just  been  printed  in  the 
newspapers.  He  said  a  few  things  which  I  wish  to  quote: 
**  Every  life,  no  matter  if  its  every  hour  is  rich  with  love 
and  every  moment  jewelled  with  a  joy,  will  at  its  close  be- 
come a  tragedy  as  sad  and  deep  and  dark  as  can  be  woven 
of  the  warp  and  woof  of  mystery  and  death.  Life  is  a 
narrow  veil  between  the  peaks  of  two  eternities.  We 
strive  in  vain  to  look  beyond  the  heights.  We  cry  aloud 
and  the  only  answer  is  the  echo  of  our  wailing. '^ 

Agnosticism  cries  into  the  deeps  of  darkness  and 
mystery  and  death  and  the  only  answer  possible  for  them 
to  receive  is  the  resounding  echo  from  the  depths  of  dark- 
ness and  mystery  and  death ;  but  the  answer  of  those  who 
cry  unto  him  who  said,  ''  Come  unto  me  and  I  will  give 
you  rest,"  is  one  of  light  and  life,  and  the  power  and 
scope  of  tliat  faith  ^'  looks  beyond  the  heights"  in  defiance 
of  darkness  and  mystery  and  death.  Those  who  cry  to 
him  who  said,  ''  Look  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved,"  receive 
an  answer  of  comfort  and  peace  and  rest,  and  look  upon 
death  as  a  stepping  stone  to  the  ''  Heights  beyond. ''  How 


different  is  this  from  those  who  '*  cry  and  their  only  ans- 
wer is  the  echo  of  their  wailing!  *' 

Agnosticism  cries  into  the  dark  and  receives  darkness 
for  a  reply.  The  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  cries  to  the  '*  Light 
of  Life  '^  and  receives  the  Light  of  Life  for  a  reply  and 
catches  a  glimpse  ^^  beyond  the  heights  "  and  jubilantly 
shouts,  ''  Life  !     Life  !     Eternal  Life  !  '' 

In  the  last  chapter  of  the  lecture  Ingersoll  says,  **  If 
it  goes  hard  with  me,  I  will  stand  it,  and  I  will  cling  to 
my  logic,  and  I  will  bear  it  like  a  man."  But  in  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ  there  is  no  ifs  about  it.  There  is  no  fearing 
that  we  may  be  wrong;  but  *'  God^s  spirit  bears  witness 
with  ours  that  we  are  his  children,  and  if  children  then 
heirs,  and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ  to  an  inheritance 
incorniptible,  undefiled  and  that  fadeth  not  away."  That 
is  the  result  of  a  perfect  faith,  delineated  by  the  great 
apostle  :  ^*  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for  ;  the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen."  And  I  propose  to  rest  on 
the  sure  foundation  to  remaining  in  the  darkness  of  doubt 
which  all  sceptics  acknowledge  they  are  in.  There  is  a 
feeling  of  certainty  and  safety  there  which  does  not  relent- 
lessly throw  in  our  face  that  *'  wailing  echo  "  from  the 
regions  *'  of  darkness  and  mystery  and  death." 

Mr.  Ingersoll  always  expressed  a  desire  ^Ho  die  sud- 
denly and  without  warning."  But  why  such  a  desire? 
I  do  not  believe  that  any  man  unless  afraid  to  die  and 
without  any  intentions  of  making  a  preparation,  but 
rather  whose  day  of  grace  is  sinned  away,  could  wish  to 
die  suddenly  and  without  warning. 

It  is  stated  by  the  newspapers  that  he  used  to  say  that 
the  Bible  was  a  most  beautiful  book  and  he  would  give  all  he 
had  if  he  could  believe  in  its  promises.  Had  he  done  as.  the 
book  told  him,  * '  Take  heed  that  the  light  which  is  in  thee  be 
not  darkness,"  and  asked  in  Jesus'  name  for  the  revelation 


i 


M 


V 


..#' 


■> 


; 


of  those  beautiful  promises,  in  other  words  had  he  put  the 
gospel  to  the  test,  studied  the  Bible  to  know  the  truth,  re- 
gardless of  whether  it  corresponded  with  the  natural  man 
or  not  he  would  have  been  able  to  claim  those  promises ; 
but  he  utterly  refused  to  ask  in  Jesus'  name.  He  plainly 
said  that  he  was  above  it. 

An  evangelist  was  holding  revival  services  when  there 
appeared  at  the  altar  a  man  who  was  groaning  under  the 
burden  of  his  sins  and  did  not  receive  relief.  The  secret 
of  it  was  that  he  acknowledged  God,  but  would  not 
acknowledge  Christ  as  his  mediator,  and  in  the  midst  of 
his  crying  to  God  for  mercy,  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  cry, 
**0  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  forgive  my  sins,"  when  iiii- 
mediately  he  received  the  light,  the  promises  of  that  beau- 
tiful book  were  his,  with  conscious  evidence  of  his  accept- 
ance with  God. 

Rev.  A.  B.  Earle,  of  the  City  of  Albany,  was  holding 
revival  services  and  had  at  the  altar  eleven  young  men. 
One  of  them  failed  to  receive  a  verification  of  the  promises. 
The  rest  were  much  interested  in  him  and  were  earnestly 
interceding  in  his  behalf,  and  he  prayed,  *' Hear  me,  O 
God,  for  the  sake  of  these  dear  friends  who  are  so  inter- 
ested in  me."  Mr.  Earle  suggested  that  he  say,  ''  O  God, 
for  Christ's  sake,  hear  me!  "  He  followed  the  suggestion 
and  immediately  the  light  burst  in  upon  his  soul. 

If  Mr.  Ingersoll  was  honest  when  he  said  iliai  he 
would  give  all-  he  had  if  he  could  believe  in  the  promises 
of  the  Bible  then  the  fact  of  his  not  embracing  Chri^liaiiity 
was  good  evidence  that  his  day  of  grace  was  siiiiied  away. 

To  conclude  with  :  I  do  not  wish  to  excite  anybodv 
to  hard  feelings  toward  a  fellow-man  even  thoitgli  he  be  an 
infidel  ;  but  I  do  say  that  unbelief  iii  the  gospel  of  Christ 
should  not  be  recognized  as  a  respectable  element  in  the. 
heart  of  man  or  in  society.     I  do  not  say  that  Mr.  Inger- 


soil  was  a  bad  man  when  you  touch  his  personal  character 
and  disposition  ;  but  I  do  say  that  it  is  an  uncompromis- 
ingly serious  thing  for  a  man  to  undertake  as  did  Inger- 
soll,  to  deprive  us  of  the  most  beautiful  gifts  and  promises 
that  God  could  bestow  upon  the  children  of  men  and  put 
within  us  a  yearning  after  those  things  and  give  us  for 
an  **  answer  only  the  echo  of  our  wailing." 


f 


QUOTATIONS   FROM   THE   SECULAR   PRESS. 

The  Philadelphia  Times  says  : 

**  He  possessed  in  high  degree  the  qualities  that  en- 
deared a  man  to  his  fellows.''  It  says  that  he  was  ''  gen- 
erous and  charitable  ;  a  devoted  husband,  a  kind  father,  a 
generous  neighbor.''  I  do  not  doubt  it.  It  also  says: 
**  His  fatal  fault  was  that  he  paraded  his  unbelief  and 
thought  to  destroy  the  faith  of  others.  He  tried  to  tear 
down  the  dearest  possession  God  has  given  his  children, 
and  offered  nothing  in  its  place.  Therefore  is  this  man's 
name,  which  should  have  been  placed  so  high,  written  in 
the  sand." 

The  New  York  Express  says  : 

'*  Probably  the  worst  that  can  be  said  of  the  Colonel 
is  that  he  was  a  religious  gamin.  He  was  not  of  the  sort 
wiiu  undermind  the  foundation  of  belief— no  such  hard 
work  for  him,  thank  you.  He  was  rather-  the  bad  buy, 
with  sun-burned  legs  and  tow  hair,  who  '  rocks  '  the  con- 
gregation at  church  on  Sunday  mornings  and  tempts  the 
good  boy  off  to  the  swimming  hole  or  the  fisiiiiii:^  weir.  If 
wc  M:  ^^  for  convictions  in  a  higher  degree,  iiii^ersoil  may 
have  I  :  lead  to  a  charge  of  religious  (k  niacrogism. 
Siartiiii^  HI  revolt  against  only  the  forbiddincr  unloveliiic^s 
{.f  cull   ivoa:iMiial   Puritanism,  he  seems  to  have  been  led, 

(140) 


V 


J 


X 


^ 


¥ 

y 


> 


demagogue  fashion,  into  the  general   unsettlement  of  the 
minds  of  superficial  folk  merely  by  the  discovery  that  he 
could  unsettle  them.     If  not,   we  are  driven  to   the   dis- 
agreeable conclusion  that  he  preached  spiritual  annihila- 
tion for  the  money  in  it.       Pe  had  no    substitute  gospel, 
save  a  vague  naturalism.     But  the  more  rational   coiiclii- 
sion  is  that  his  irresponsibility  proceeded  from  the  (lelighi 
in  swaying  large  bodies   of   people,    which    ratiiates   the 
political  demagogue.     It  is  pretty  certain    that    Iii<;trsoll 
took  little  thought  of  the  number  of  imperfectly  educated 
young  men  for  whom  his  clever  mockery  of   things  which 
they  had   revered   made  excuses  for  evil  courses.     It   was 
this  influenceofhis,  undoubtedly,  which  caused  the  religions 
societies  to  combat  him  so  vigorously  and  to  labor  >o  hai  1 
for  his  conversion.     These  good  people  were  niKloiiljiidl} 
much  worried  by  his  life.     They  may  calm  themselves  at 
his   death.       With    the   last    echo  of   his   mell  )\v    .oiee 
silenced,  and  the  last  twinkle  of   his  bright  wit  queiiclied, 
his  influence  is  exhausted." 

From  the  New  York  Mail  and  Express  : 

^*  In  the  large  sense  of  the  word,  Coi.  liigersoil>  life 
was  a  failure.  He  was  a  phrase-maker  and  mac^ician,  wlio 
fascinated  his  hearers  but  never  instructeo;  them.  He 
painted  beautiful  pictures  but  they  faded  like  mists  in  the 
sunshine.  He  was  a  destroyer  as  far  as  he  could  be,  and 
had  nothing  to  offer  in  place  of  that  wliicli  he  destroyed. 
He  taught  onh'  the  gospel  of  duubt  and  dark  despair  ;  his 
spiritual  vocabulary  contained  no  such  word  as  faith  and 
in  all  the  beautiful  things  he  ever  said  he  never  brought 
cheer  to  an  aching  heart  nor  hn|>e  tu  a  troubled  soul.  The 
ideals  and  aspirations  wliicli  lie  decried  ^till  thrill  the 
heart  of  humanity;  the  institutions  at  which  he  scoffed 
still  :^hcd  their  benign  radiance  n})oii  the  races  of  the  earth, 

(141) 


and  he  leaves  the  earth  without  having  added  even  a  frag- 
ment to  its  knowledge  or  a  single  ray  of   light  to  its   joys 

or  hopes. 

**  Colonel  Ingersoll  failed  not  only  for  the  world  but 
for  himself.  If  he  was  an  hoaiest  seeker  after  truth  he  was 
a  most  unfortunate  one.  For  with  a  badly  poised  mind 
which  disputes  the  existence  of  all  things  which  it  cannot 
comprehend,  he  barred  the  gates  against  his  own  progress 
and  became  a  hopeless  wanderer  in  the  gloomy  marshes  of 
doubt.  And  so  he  passes,  like  a  shadow,  while  the  faith 
which  he  assailed  still  brightens  the  world.'' 

From  the  New  York  Voice,  New  York : 
'*  Ingersoll's  assaults  upon  religious  faith  were  not 
the  product  of  any  deep  research ,  laborious  scholarship,  or 
intellectual  strain  His  weapons  were  sarcasm,  flippant 
smartness,  catchy  rhetoric  and  at  times  an  eloquent  and 
obviously  sincere  appeal  to  the  feelings  of  justice  and 
humanity,  so  often  outraged,  as  we  all  know,  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  church.'' 

Although  his  speech  was  flowery,  and  his  phrases 
beautifully  constructed,  still  many  declare  that  after  you 
had  seen  and  heard  him  once  it  was  all  over  with,  they 
would  not  go  across  the  road  to  htai  him  again.     He  said 

if  1r  had  a  m)ii1  he  wanted  it  saved,  but  it  would  be 
<■^^■vn  rhrnii(T]i  hi-  own  gfoodness  or  nut  al  all.  Although 
hefrankiv  ackiKiwledged  that  he  did  not  Hnd  the  truth, 
sLiii  he  dtckucd  It  unintelligent,  insane  and  idiotic  to  be- 

1ie\'e  ill  Christianitv. 

Thus  bcanuK  ak)tt  the  sceptre  of  his  own  righteous- 


11 


f , 


nv>>  lie  no 


>ppcd  ins  \\ 


rings  of  intelligence  and  soared  above 

11^,  aboxx  the  i^ospel    of    Jesus  Christ.     He  ascended  ilic 
heighits  (A  logic.      He  stood  upon  the  mountain  peaks  of  ^ir- 


1 


142) 


! 


/. 


V 


atory.  And  beholding  ignorance  in  the  valley  below  he 
poured  forth  his  oratorical  eloquence  in  phraseology  so  at- 
tractive, in  literary  style  so  captivating,  that  he  labored 
under  the  delusion  that  he  would  obliterate  Christianity. 
But  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  has  come  to  stay.  Other 
things  flourish  and  die  away  ;  they  sparkle,  they  glitter, 
and  then  they  are  gone.  But  the  gospel  of  Christ,  never. 
The  good  old  book  will  stand. 


N 


V 


(i43) 


/ 

t 


PART  OF  INGERSOLL'S  LAST  POEM 

(Copied  from  Literary  Digest.) 


k 


\ 

/, 


'•The  simple  truth  is  what  we  ask, 

Not  the  ideal ; 
We've  set  ourselves  the  noble  task 

To  find  the  real. 
If  all  there  is  is  naught  but  dross, 
We  want  to  know  and  bear  our  loss. 

We  have  no  God  to  serve  or  fear  ; 

No  hell  to  shun  ; 
No  devil  with  malicious  leer. 

When  life  is  done 
An  endless  sleep  may  close  our  eyes— 
A  sleep  with  neither  dreams  nor  sighs. 

When  cyclones  rend— when  lightning  blights, 

'Tis  nought  but  fate  ; 
There  is  no  God  of  wrath  who  smites 

In  heartless  hate. 
Behind  the  things  that  injure  man 
There  is  no  purpose,  thought,  or  plan. 

The  jewelled  cup  of  love  we  drain, 

And  friendship's  wine 
''  Now  swiftly  fln\v<;  in  every  vein 

With  warmth  divine. 
And  so  we  love  and  hope  aiil  .Ircam 
That  in  death's  sky  there  is  a  gleam." 


•    V 


; 


> 


We  do  not  pray,  or  weep,  or  wail, 

We  have  no  dread. 
No  fear  to  pass  beyond  the  veil 

That  hides  the  dead. 
And  yet  we  question,  dream  and  guess  ; 
But  kiiuwlcilge  we  do  not  possess. 

We  ask,  yet  notliiiig  seems  to  know  ; 

We  cry  in  vain. 
There  is  no  *  master  oi  the  show' 

Who  will  expkiiii. 
Or  troiii  the  future  tear  the  mask, 

Aiiu  yet  wc  tlreani.  and  still  we  ask  : 

Is  there  beyond  the  silent  night  * 

An  endless  day  i 
■      Is  death  a  door  that  leads  to  light  ? 

We  cannot  say. 
The  ioiigueless  secrtt  locked  in  fate 
Wc  do  not  know.      We  hope  and  wait." 

If  we  will  sto]>  right  h.ere  and  do  a  little  reasoning  we 
will  see  that  this  is  uiiscientihc  and  silly.  It  not  only 
contradicts  his  prose  literature  but  it  contradicts  itself. 

lie  tells  us  at  the  beginning  of  one  verse  that  all  is 
fate,  ''/he  mevitahhw'  foreordained,  predestinated,  and 
then  he  closes  the  same  verse  with  a  square  contradiction, 
making  everything  one  conglomerate  mass  of  happenstance, 
irregularity,  disorder  and  confusion,  thus  himself  pulling 
down  the  temple  of  reason  that  he  asks  us  to  rear  upon  the 
foundation  stone  of  '^  This  is  a  natural  world,  the  endless 
chain  of  cause  and  effect  has  never  been  broken.'' 

vSee  third  verse  :  ^^  Nought  btit  fate.  No  purpose, 
thought,  or  plan."  What  does  fate  mean?  A  foreor- 
dained event  ;  doom  predetermined.  Webster  defines 
fated,  thus:    ''  Decreed  by  fate,  determined;   appointed." 

(M5) 


And  fate  :  *'  An  inevitable  necessity  depending  npon  a 
superior  cause  ;  or  a  fixed  sentence  whereby  the  order  of 
things  is  irreversibly  determined." 

Now  you  see  according  to  this  poem  the  truth  of 
these  religious  questions,  which  are  the  most  interesting 
and  dominating  subjects  of  the  day,  are  ''  locked  in  fate,'' 
it  is  unknowable,  and  this  fateful  condition  of  affairs  can- 
not be  reversed  and  yet  at  the  very  beginning  of  this  poem 
they  tell  us  that  they  ask  for  this  truth  and  have  set 
themselves  the  task  of  finding  it  and  he  has  called  it  a 
noble  task  ;  but  I  should  call  it  an  idiotic  undertaking  if  I 
pretended  to  know  that  it  was  ''  locked  in  fate." 

*  Then  he  said,  **  If  all  is  dross,  we  want  to  know  and 
bear  our  loss."  Is  not  that  silly,  indeed?  If  we  have 
nothing  how  can  we  lose  something?     If  all  is  dross  what 

is  there  to  lose  f 

And  yet  they  are  trying  to  persuade  us  that  we  should 
pawn  off  this  golden  beauty,  Christianity,  and  receive  in 
its  place  only  this  dross  of  agnosticism — fiotice  that  dross 
IS  IngersoWs  name  for  it  too.  But  let  these  followers  of 
Ingersoll  get  all  they  can  out  of  this  poem,  of  fate  theory ; 
and  its  perfect  anthithesis  ;  no  purpose,  thought,  or  plan 
theory,  still  they  must  acknowledge  that  where  a  decree 
is  there  must  be  something  or  somebody  to  make  that  de- 
cree, and  it  cannot  be  done  without  some  purpose,  thought 
or  plan.  There  must  be  a  cause  according  to  Ingersoll 's 
own  gospel,  yet  he  denies  it  in  this  poem,  and  there  must 
be  something  or  somebody  to  carry  out  that  decree.  So 
with  one  breath  we  hear  him  arguing  for  predestination 
by  telling  us  that  every  ill  is  ''  naught  but  fate,"  all  pre- 
appointed, purposed,  thought  out  and  planned,  with  no 
way  of  escape ;  and  with  the  very  next  breath  that  he 
drew  he  contradicted  it,  reversed  the  thing  completely, 
declaring  it  all  to  be  without  ''  purpose,  thought,  or  plan.'' 

(146) 


t 


V 


# 


V 


X. 


X 


y 


1 


But  if  ''There  is  no  purpose,  thought,  or  plan,  behind  the 
things  that  injure  man,"  then  there  can  be  none  behind 
the  things  that  benefit  him.  So  one  moment  he  calls  for 
order,  a  '*  natural  world — cause  and  effect  " — and  the  next 
moment  he  flings  all  together  into  one  gigantic  heap  of 
debris — disorder  aud  confusion. 

We  speak  of  the  fated  cities  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
and  according  to  both  sacred  and  profane  history  these 
cities  were  fated.  And  according  to  this  poem  of  iiiger- 
soll's  which  the  advanced  thinkers,  as  they  call  theinselves, 
extol,  and  according  to  Ingersoll's  own  gospel  of  cause 
and  effect,  there  must  have  been  somebody  to  make  that 
decree  in  purpose,  thought,  and  plan.  There  mustWiave 
been  a  cause  from  the  beginning  of  those  cities  until  their 
doom  was  sealed  and  they  had  met  their  fate  in  fulfillment 
of  prophecy.  And  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Iccicc 
concerning  the  Jews,  made  hundreds  of  years  ago,  that  if 
they  would  walk  in  the  statutes  of  God  it  would  be  well 
with  them  and  they  should  stand  at  the  head  of  nations  ; 
but  if  not  they  were  to  lose  their  nationality  for  a  certain 
time,  it  should  go  hard  with  them,  they  should  be  }ki> 
secuted  and  driven  hither  and  yon  and  scattered  among  all 
nations  and  become  a  proverb  and  a  by-word.  Was  tliere 
no  cause  for  all  this  ?  Was  there  nobody  to  make  that 
decree  or  to  carry  it  out?  Was  there  no  piirposing,  110 
thinking,  no  planning?  Do  you  not  see  that  Iiigefsoll  m 
this  poem  denies  his  own  gospel  ?  That  decree,  prophecv, 
concerning  the  Jews  has  been  literally  caniccl  out  to  the 
present  day  and  will  continue  to  be  until  tliat  race  of  peo- 
ple are  again  reunited  in  one  body  and  inhabiting  the  land 
of  Canaan  in  peace  and  prosperity  and  heading  the  list  of 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  And  thus  might  we  cnniiiiiie 
for  many  a  page  or  even  chapter. 

ri47) 


Perhaps  Ingersoll  ought  to  have  had  the  *'  s  ''  added 
to  fate  to  make  it  Fates  (Myths),  goddesses,  sisters  three, 
their  business  being  to  ''  spin  the  destinies  of  men  '*  and 
snap  asunder  the  brittle  thread  of  life  at  the  arrival  of  the 
appointed  hour  of  death.  Who  knows  but  he  arranged 
with  them  to  carry  out  his  wish  to  ''die  suddenly  and 
without  warning, "seeing  he  had  such  faith  in  Fates — fate. 
But  how  much  more  reasonably  has  the  great  poet  Milton 
used  the  word : 

♦'  Others,  apart,  sat  on  a  hill  retired, 

In  thoughts  more  elevate,  and  reasoned  high 

Of  providence,  foreknowledge,  will  and  fate." 

'^In  the  fifth  verse  here  he  says,  "  We  do  not  pray,  or 
weep,  or  wail,  or  fear,"  etc.,  but  in  his  address  at  his 
brother's  funeral  we  found  him  fearing  and  crying  and 
wailing.  You  will  remember  that  he  said,  "  We  cry  and 
'the  only  answer  is  the  echo  of  our  wailing. '^  Further- 
more, the  first  verse  here  is  all  prayer.  The  sixth  verse  is 
all  prayer.     A  part  of  the  last  verse  is  prayer. 

But  who  does  he  question  so  earnestly,     who  does  he 
ask?     Man,  or  beast,  or  God,  or  the  devil?     But,  ''  we  do 
not  pray  ?''     Why,  in  the  latter  part  of  that  very  verse  we 
find  him  groaning  under  the  burden  of  unanswered  pra)t:i. 
And  why  ?     Because  he  would  not  give  up  his  pride  and 
come  down  from  the  perch  of  self-exaltation  and   ask  in 
the  name  of  the  One  who  came  to  redeem  us  that  he  might 
own  the  "  beautiful  promises  of  the  bible,"  which  he  said 
he  would  give  all  he  possessed  if  he  could  believe  in.    The 
fact  of  the  matter  is,  these  fellows  want  to  win    heaven, 
but  they  want  to  ' '  climb  up  some  other  way  ; ' '   they  are 
not  willing  to  pass  through  the  lofty  valley  of  humiliation 
ana  enter  the  door-Jesus  Christ.     They  seek  lu   Icai  the 
door  from  its  hinges,  but  their  efforts  are  fruitless. 

(148) 


( 


I 


] 


Jl 


^ 


r 


But,  Mr.  Ingersoll  has  gone  from  us.  All  talk  and 
cavil  concerning  his  destiny  (but  not  his  doctrines)  is  use- 
less, but  whether  he  would  or  not,  he  must  come  forth  as 
all  must  do  "to  the  resurrection  of  life ;  or  the  resurrec- 
tion of  damnation — the  lake  of  fire  which  is  the  second 
death." 

To  honestly  express  my  opinion,  Mr.  Ingersoll  was 
worst  kind  of  a  sceptic.  As  the  moderate  drinkers  of 
spiritous  liquors  are  a  terror  to  temperance  workers  and 
sobriety,  and  all  reform  work,  being  the  manufacturers  of 
inebriates  and  drunkards,  in  short,  the  perpetuators  of 
all  the  evils  of  the  Colossal  Rum  Curse,  so  an  agnostic 
like  Mr.  Ingersoll  is  the  worst  kind  of  a  sceptic  that 
Christianity  has  to  deal  with. 


ri49) 


Perhaps  In^ersoll  ought  to  have  had  the  **  s  *'  added 
to  fate  to  make  it  Fates  (Myths),  goddesses,  sisters  three, 
their  business  being  to  '*  spin  the  destinies  of  men  '»  and 
snap  asunder  the  brittle  thread  of  life  at  the  arrival  of  the 
appointed  hour  of  death.  Who  knows  but  he  arranged 
with  them  to  carry  out  his  wish  to  **die  suddenly  and 
without  warning, ''seeing  he  had  such  faith  in  Fates — fate. 
But  how  much  more  reasonably  has  the  great  poet  Milton 
used  the  word  : 

•'  Others,  apart,  sat  on  a  hill  retired, 

In  thoughts  more  elevate,  and  reasoned  high 

Of  providence,  foreknowledge,  will  and  fate." 

In  the  fifth  verse  here  he  says,  '*  We  do  not  pray,  or 
weep,  or  wail,  or  fear,"  etc.,  but  in  his  address  at  his 
brother's  funeral  we  found  him  fearing  and  crying  and 
wailing.  You  will  remember  that  he  said,  **  We  cry  and 
the  only  answer  is  the  echo  of  our  wailing.''  Further- 
more, the  first  verse  here  is  all  prayer.  The  sixth  verse  is 
all  prayer.     A  part  of  the  last  verse  is  prayer. 

But  who  does  he  question  so  earnestly,  who  does  he 
ask?  Man,  or  beast,  or  God,  or  the  devil?  But,  **  we  do 
not  pray  ?*'  Why,  in  the  latter  part  of  that  very  verse  we 
find  him  groaning  under  the  burden  of  unanswered  prayer. 
And  wliy  ?  Because  he  would  not  give  up  his  pride  and 
come  down  from  the  perch  of  self-exaltation  and  ask  in 
the  name  of  the  One  who  came  to  redeem  us  that  he  might 
own  the  **  beautiful  promises  of  the  bible,"  which  he  said 
he  would  give  all  he  possessed  if  he  could  believe  in.  The 
fact  of  the  matter  is,  these  fellows  want  to  win  heaven, 
but  they  want  to  *  *  climb  up  some  other  way  ; ' '  they  are 
not  willing  to  pass  through  the  lofty  valley  of  humiliation 
and  enter  the  door — Jesus  Christ.  They  seek  to  tear  the 
door  from  its  hinges,  but  their  efforts  are  fruitless. 


( 


i 


I 


^. 


V. 


/ 

? 


} 


But,  Mr.  Ingersoll  has  gone  from  us.  All  talk  and 
cavil  concerning  his  destiny  (dul  not  his  doctrines)  is  use- 
less, but  whether  he  would  or  not,  he  must  come  forth  as 
all  must  do  **to  the  resurrection  of  life;  or  the  resurrec- 
tion of  damnation — the  lake  of  fire  which  is  the  second 
death.'* 

To  honestly  express  my  opinion,  Mr.  Ingersoll  was 
worst  kind  of  a  sceptic.  As  the  moderate  drinkers  of 
spiritous  liquors  are  a  terror  to  temperance  workers  and 
sobriety,  and  all  reform  work,  being  the  manufacturers  of 
inebriates  and  drunkards,  in  short,  the  perpetuators  of 
all  the  evils  of  the  Colossal  Rum  Curse,  so  an  agnostic 
like  Mr.  Ingersoll  is  the  worst  kind  of  a  sceptic  that 
Christianity  has  to  deal  with. 


(148) 


ri49) 


( 


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^ 


Y 


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( 


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wnat  M  u 


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L^  \ 


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i 


By  ROBERT  G.  INGERSOLL. 


PREFACE. 


/ 


; 


If  what  is  known  as  the  Christian  Religion  is  true,  nothing  can 
be  more  wonderful  than  the  fact  that  Matthew,  Mark  and  I^uke  say 
nothing  about  "salvation  by  faith;"  that  they  do  not  even  hint  at  the 
doctrine  of  the  atonement,  and  are  as  silent  as  empty  tombs  as  to  the 
necessity  of  believing  anything  to  secure  happiness  in  this  world  or 
another. 

For  a  good  many  years  it  has  been  claimed  that  the  writers  of 
these  gospels  knew  some  things  of  the  teachings  of  Christ,  and  had  at 
least,  a  general  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  salvation.  It  now 
seems  to  be  substantiated  that  the  early  christians  did  not  place  im- 
plicit confidence  in  the  gospels,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  make  such 
changes  and  additions  as  they  thought  proper.  Such  changes  and 
additions  are  about  the  only  passages  in  the  New  Testament  that  the 
Evangelical  Churches  now  consider  sacred.  That  portion  of  the  last 
chapter  of  Mark,  in  which  unbelievers  are  so  cheerfully  and  promptly 
damned,  has  been  shown  to  be  an  interpolation,  and  it  is  asserted  that 
in  the  revised  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  soon  to  be  issued,  the 
infamous  pages  will  not  appear.  With  these  expunged,  there  is  not 
one  word  in  Matthew,  Mark  or  Luke,  even  tending  to  show  that  belief 
in  Christ  has,  or  can  have,  any  effect  upon  the  destiny  of  the  soul. 

The  four  gospels  are  the  four  corner  stones  upon  which  rests  the 
fabric  of  orthodox  Christianity.  Three  of  these  stones  have  crumbled 
and  the  fourth  is  not  likely  to  outlast  this  generation.  The  gospel  of 
John  cannot  alone  uphold  the  infinite  absurdity  of  vicarious  virtue 
and  vice,  and  cannot,  without  the  aid  of  *'  interpolation  "  sustain  the 
illogical  and  immoral  dogma  of  salvation  by  faith.  These  frightful 
doctrines  must  be  abandoned;  the  miraculous  must  be  given  up,  the 
wonderful  stories  must  be  expunged,  and  from  the  creed  of  noble 
deeds  the  forgeries  of  superstition  must  be  blotted  out.      From  the 

(I) 


temple  of  Morality  and  Truth — from  the  great  windows  towards  the 
sun — the  parasitic  and  poisonous  vines  of  faith  and  fable  must  be 
torn. 

The  church  will  be  compelled  at  last  to  rest  its  case,  not  upon  the 
wonders  Christ  is  said  to  have  performed,  but  upon  the  system  of 
morality  he  taught.  All  the  miracles,  including  the  resurrection  and 
ascension,  are,  when  compared  with  portions  of  the  "Sermon  on 
the  Mount,"  but  dust  and  darkness. 

The  careful  reader  of  the  New  Testament  will  find  three  Christs 
described: — One  who  wished  to  preserve  Judaism — one  who  wished  to 
reform  it,  and  one  who  built  a  system  of  his  own  The  Apostles  and 
their  disciples,  utterly  unable  to  comprehend  a  religion  that  did  away 
with  sacrifices,  churches, priests,  and  creeds,  constructed  a  Christianity 
for  themselves, so  that  the  orthodox  churches  of  to-day  rest— _/rr5/, upon 
what  Christ  endeavored  to  destroy — second,  upon  what  he  never  said, 
and,  third,  upon  a  misunderstanding  of  what  he  did  say. 

If  a  certain  belief  is  necessary  to  insure  the  salvation  of  the  soul, 
the  church  ought  to  explain,  and  without  any  unnecessary  delay,  why 
such  an  infinitely  important  fact  was  utterly  ignored  by  Matthew, 
Mark  and  Luke.  There  are  only  two  explanations  possible.  Either 
belief  is  unnecessary,  or  the  writers  of  these  three  gospels  did  not 
understand  the  Christian  system.  The  •' sacredness"  of  the  subject 
cannot  longer  hide  the  absurdity  of  the  "scheme  of  salvation,"  nor 
the  failure  of  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke,  to  mention,  what  is  now 
claimed  to  have  been,  the  entire  mission  of  Christ.  The  church  must 
take  from  the  New  Testament  the  supernatural;  the  idea  that  an  in- 
tellectual conviction  can  subject  an  honest  man  to  eternal  pain — the 
awful  doctrine  that  the  innocent  can  justly  suffer  for  the  guilty,  and 
allow  the  remainder  to  be  discussed,  denied  or  believed  without 
punishment  and  without  reward.  No  one  will  object  to  the  preaching 
of  kindness,  honesty  and  justice.  To  preach  less  is  a  crime,  and  to 
practice  more  is  impossible. 

There  is  one  thing  that  ought  to  be  impressed  upon  the  average 
theologian,  and  that  is  the  utter  futility  of  trying  to  answer  arguments 
with  personal  abuse.  It  should  be  understood  once  for  all  that  these 
questions  are  in  no  sense  personal.  If  it  should  turn  out  that  all  the 
professed  christians  in  the  world  are  sinless  saints,  the  question  of  how 
Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke,  came  to  say  nothing  about  the  atonement 
and  the  scheme  of.salvation  by  faith,  would  still  be  asked.  And  if  it 
should  then  be  shown  that  all  the  doubters,  deists,  and  atheists,  are 
vile  and  vicious  wretches,  the  question  still  would  wait  for  a  reply. 

The  origin  of  all  religions,  creeds,  and  sacred  books,  is  substan- 
tially the  same,  and  the  history  of  one  is,  in  the  main,  the  history  of 
all.  Thus  far  these  religions  have  been  the  mistaken  explanations  of 
our  surroundings.  The  appearances  of  nature  have  imposed  upon  the 
ignorance  and  fear  of  man.  But  back  of  all  honest  creeds  was,  and  is, 
the  desire  to  know,  to  understand,  and  to  explain,  and  that  desire  will, 
as  I  most  ardently  hope  and  earnestly  believe,  be  gratified  at  last  by 
the  discovery  of  the  truth.  Until  then  let  us  bear  with  the  theories, 
hopes,  dreams,  mistakes  aud  honest  thoughts  of  all. 


> 


Washington.  D.  C, 
Oct.,  i88o. 


Robert  G.  Ingersoll. 


X 


I 


\, 


«p^ 


< 


i 


WHAT   MUST  WE   DO  TO   BE  SAVED? 


(2) 


^HE   NUREMBURG   MaN  ^^AS   OPERATED   BY   A   COMBINATION  OF  PIPES 
^    ANe-'CEVItirsrirNTrTTtOUGH    HE   COUI.D   BREATHE   AND  DIGEST  PER- 
FECTLY,   AND   EVEN   REASON   AS   WEI.I<   AS  MOST  THEOLOGIANS,  WAS 
MADE  OF  NOTHING  BUT  WOOD  AND   LEATHER." 

I. 

The  whole  world  has  been  filled  with  fear.  Ignorance  iias  beea 
the  refuge  of  the  soul.  For  thousands  of  years  the  intellectual  ocean 
was  ravaged  by  the  buccaneers  of  reason.  Pious  souls  clung  to  the 
shore  and  looked  at  the  lighthouse.  The  seas  were  filled  with  mon- 
sters and  the  islands  with  sirens.  The  people  were  driven  in  the 
middle  of  a  narrow  road  while  priests  went  before,  beating  the  hedges 
on  either  side  to  frighten  the  robbers  from  their  lairs.  The  poor 
fellows  seeing  no  robbers,  thanked  their  brave  leaders  with  all  tneir 
hearts. 

Huddled  in  folds  they  listened  with  wide  eyes  while  the  Shepherd 
told  of  ravening  wolves.  With  great  gladness  they  exchanged  their 
fleeces  for  security.  Shorn  and  shivering,  they  had  the  happiness  of 
seeing  their  protectors  comfortable  and  warm. 

Through  all  the  years,  those  who  plowed  divided  with  those  who 
prayed.  Wicked  industry  supported  pious  idleness,  the  hut  gave  to 
the  cathedra],  and  frightened  poverty  gave  even  its  rags  to  buy  a  robe 
for  hypocrisy. 

Fear  is  the  dungeon  of  the  mind,  and  superstition  is  a  dagger 
with  which  hypocrisy  assassinates  the  soul.  Courage  is  liberty  i 
am  in  favor  of  absolute  freedom  of  thought.  In  the  realm  r.f  mind 
every  one  is  monarch;  every  one  is  robed,  sceptered  and  crowned, 
and  every  one  wears  the  purple  of  authority.  I  belong  to  the  republic 
of  intellectual  liberty,  and  only  those  are  good  citizens  of  that  re- 
public who  depend  upon  reason  and  upon  persuasion,  and  only  those 
are  traitors  who  resort  to  brute  force. 

Now,  I  beg  of  you  all  to  forget  just  for  a  few  moments  that  you 
are  Methodists  or  Baptists  or  Catholics  or  Presbyterians,  and  let  us 
for  an  hour  or  two  remember  only  that  we  are  men  and  women.  And 
allow  me  to  say  "  man  "  and  "  woman  "  are  the  highest  titles  that  can 
be  bestowed  upon  humanity. 

Let  us,  if  possible,  banish  all  fear  from  the  mind.  Do  not  imagine 
that  there  is  some  being  in  the  infinite  expanse  who  is  not  willing 
that  every  man  and  woman  should  think  for  himself  and  herself.  Do 
not  imagine  that  there  is  any  being  who  would  give  to  his  children  the 
holy  torch  of  reason,  and  then  damn  them  for  following  that  sacred 
light.     Let  us  have  courage. 

(3) 


Priests  have  invented  a  crime  called  "blasphemy,"  and  behind 
that  crime  hypocrisy  has  crouched  for  thousands  of  years.  There  is 
but  one  blasphemy,  and  that  is  injustice.  There  is  but  one  worship, 
and  that  is  justice  ! 

You  need  not  fear  the  anger  of  a  god  that  you  cannot  injure. 
Rather  fear  to  injure  your  fellow-men.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  a  crime 
you  cannot  commit.  Rather  be  afraid  of  one  that  you  may  commit. 
The  reason  that  you  cannot  injure  God  is  that  the  infinite  is  coudi- 
tionless  You  cannot  increase  or  diminish  the  happiness  of  any  being 
without  changing  that  being's  condition.  If  God  is  conditionless,you 
can  neither  injure  nor  benefit  him. 

There  was  a  Jewish  gentleman  went  into  a  restaurant  to  get  his 
dinner,  and  the  devil  of  temptation  whispered  in  his  ear  :  "Eat  some 
bacon."  He  knew  if  there  was  anything  in  the  universe,  calculated 
to  excite  the  wrath  of  an  infinite  being,  who  made  every  shining  star, 
it  was  to  see  a  gentleman  eating  bacon.  He  knew  it,  and  he  knew 
the  infinite  being  was  looking,  that  he  was  the  eternal  eavesdropper 
of  the  universe.  But  his  appetite  got  the  better  of  his  conscience,  as 
it  often  has  with  us  all,  ana  he  ate  that  bacon.  He  knew  it  was 
wrong,  and  his  conscience  felt  the  blood  of  shame  in  its  cheek.  When 
he  went  into  that  restaurant  the  weather  was  delightful,  the  sky  was 
as  blue  as  June,  and  when  he  came  out  the  sky  was  covered  with  angry 
clouds,  the  lightning  leaping  from  one  to  another,  and  the  earth  shak- 
ing beneath  the  voice  of  the  thunder.  He  wejt  back  into  that  res- 
taurant with  a  face  as  white  as  milk,  and  he  said  to  one  of  the 
keepers : 

"My  God,  did  you  ever  hear  such  a  fuss  about  a  little  piece  of 
bacon  ? ' ' 

As  long  as  we  harbor  such  opinions  of  infinity;  as  long  as  we  im- 
agine the  heavens  to  be  filled  with  such  tyranny,  just  so  long  the  sons 
of  men  will  be  cringing,  intellectual  cowards.  t,et  us  think,  and  let 
us  honestly  express  our  thought. 

Do  not  imagine  for  a  moment  that  I  think  people  who  disagree 
with  me  are  bad  people.  I  admit,  and  I  cheerfully  admit,  that  a  very 
large  proportion  of  mankind,  and  a  very  large  majority,  a  vast  number 
are  reasonably  honest.  I  believe  that  most  christians  believe  what 
they  teach  ;  that  most  ministers  are  endeavoring  to  make  this  world 
better.  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  better  than  they  are.  It  is  an  intel- 
lectual question.  It  is  a  question,  first,  of  intellectual  liberty,  and 
after  that,  a  question  to  be  settled  at  the  bar  of  human  reason.  I  do 
not  pretend  to  be  better  than  they  are.  Probably  I  am  a  good  deal 
worse  than  many  of  them,  but  that  is  not  the  question.  The  question 
is  :  "Bad  as  I  am  have  I  the  right  to  think?  "  And  I  think  I  have 
for  two  reasons : 

First,  I  cannot  help  it.     And  secondly,  I  like  it. 

The  whole  question  is  right  at  a  point.  If  I  have  not  a  right  to 
express  my  thoughts,  who  has  ? 

"  Oh,"  they  say,  "we  will  allow  you  to  think,  we  will  not  burn 
you." 

"All  right ;  why  won't  you  burn  me  ?  " 

"Because  we  think  a  decent  man  will  allow  others  to  think  and  to 
express  his  thought." 

"  Then  the  reason  you  do  not  persecute  me  for  my  thought  is  that 
you  believe  it  would  be  infamous  in  you  ?" 

"Yes." 

(4) 


i 


} 


^ 


) 


; 


I 


"And  yet  you  worship  a  God  who  will,  as  you  declare,  punish  me     ^ 
forever?"  \ 

Surely  an  infinite  God  ought  to  be  as  just  as  man.  Surely  no 
God  can  have  the  right  to  punish  his  children  for  being  honest.  He 
should  not  reward  hypocrisy  with  heaven,  and  punish  candor  with 
eternal  pain. 

The  next  question  then  is :     Can  I  commit  a  sin  against  God  by 
thinking  ?     If  God  did  not  intend  I  should  think,  why  did  he  give  me 
a  thinker?    For  one,  I  am  convinced,  not  only  that  I  have  the  right 
to  think,  but  that  it  is  my  duty  to  express  my  honest  thoughts    W  liat 
ever  the  gods  may  say  we  must  be  true  to  ourselves. 

We  have  got  what  they  call  the  Christian  system  of  religion,  and 
thousands  of  people  wonder  how  I  can  be  wicked  enough  to  attack 
that  system. 

There  are  many  good  things  about  it,  and  I  shall  never  attack 
anything  that  I  believe  to  be  good  !  I  shall  never  fear  to  attack  any- 
thing I  honestly  believe  to  be  wrong  !  We  have  what  they  call  the 
Christian  religion,  and  I  find,  just  in  proportion  that  nations  have 
been  religious,  just  in  the  proportion  they  have  clung  to  the  religion 
of  their  founders,  they  have  gone  back  to  barbarism.  I  find  that 
Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  are  the  three  worst  nations  in  Europe.  I  find 
that  the  nation  nearest  infidel  is  the  most  prosperous— France. 

And  so  I  say  there  can  be  no  danger  in  the  exercise  of  absoluie 
intellectual  freedom.  I  find  among  ourselves  the  men  who  think  are 
at  least  as  good  as  those  who  do  not. 

We  have,  I  say  a  Christian  system,  and  that  system  is  founded  / 
upon  what  they  are  pleased  to  call  the  "New  Testament."  Who 
wrote  the  New  Testament?  I  do  not  know.  Who  does  know?  No-  / 
body.  We  have  found  many  manuscripts  containing  portions  of  thte  ' 
New  Testament.  Some  of  these  manuscripts  leave  out  five  or  six 
books— many  of  them.  Others  more  ;  others  less.  No  two  of  tl^se 
manuscripts  agree.  Nobody  know^s  who  wrote  these  manuscrit>ts. 
They  are  all  written  in  Greek.  The  disciples  of  Christ,  so  far  as  )ve 
know,  knew  only  Hebrew.  Nobody  ever  saw,  so  far  as  we  know,  one 
of  the  original  Hebrew  manuscripts.  Nobody  ever  saw  anybody  who 
had  heard  of  anybody  that  had  ever  seen  anybody  that  had  ever  seen 
one  of  the  original  Hebrew  manuscripts.  No  doubt  the  clergy  of  your 
city  have  told  you  these  facts  thousands  of  times,  and  they  will  be 
obliged  to  me  for  having  repeated  them  once  more.  These  manu- 
scripts are  written  in  what  are  called  capital  Greek  letters.  They  arc 
galled  J  jlifiPl  ir«nuscripts,  and  the  New  Testament  was  not  divided 
into  cha'pters  and  verses,  even  until  the  year  of  grace  1551.  In  the 
original  the  manuscripts  and  gospels  are  signed  by  nobody.  The 
epistles  are  addressed  to  nobody;  and  they  are  signed  by  the  same 
person.  All  the  addresses,  all  the  pretended  ear-marks  showing  to 
whom  they  were  written,  are  simply  interpolations,  and  everybody?; 
who  has  studied  the  subject  knows  it. 

It  is  further  admitted  that  even  these  manuscripts  have  not  been 
properly  translated,  and  they  have  a  syndicate  now  making  a  new 
translation ;  and  I  suppose  that  I  cannot  tell  whether  I  really  believe 
the  New  Testafin  ni  or  not  until  I  see  that  new  translation. 

You  must  remember,  also,  one  other  thing.  Christ  never  wrote  a  \ 
solitary  word  of  the  New  Testament— not  one  word.  There  is  an  ) 
account  that  he  once  stooped  and  wrote  something  in  the  sand,  but) 
that  has  not  been  preserved.     He  never  told  anybody  to  write  a  word. ' 

(5) 


\ 

I 

/ 


He  never  said  Matthew,  remember  this.  Mark,  do  not  forget  to  put 
that  down.  Luke,  be  sure  that  in  your  gospel  you  have  this.  John, 
do  not  forget  it."  Not  one  word.  And  it  has  always  seemed  to  me 
that  a  being  coming  from  another  world,  with  a  message  of  infinite 
importance  to  mankind,  should  at  least  have  verified  that  message,  by 
his  own  signature.  Is  it  not  wonderful  that  not  one  word  was  written  by 
Christ?  Is  it  not  strange  that  He  ^ave  no  orders  to  have  his  words 
preserved — words  upon  which  hung  the  salvation  of  a  world? 

Why  was  nothing  written?  I  will  tell  you.  In  my  judgement  they 
expected  the  end  of  the  world  in  a  few  days.  That  generation  was 
not  to  pass  away  until  the  heavens  should  be  rolled  up  as  a  scroll, 
and  until  the  earth  should  melt  with  f£t»4snt  heat.  That  was  their 
belief.  They  believed  that  the  world  was  to  be  destroyed,  and  that 
there  was  to  be  another  coming,  and  the  saints  were  then  lo  govern 
the  earth.  And  they  even  went  so  far  among  the  apostles,  as  we 
frequently  do  now  before  election,  as  to  divide  out  the  offices  in  ad- 
vance. This  Testament  as  it  no^  is,  was  not  written  for  hundreds  of 
ears  after  the  apostles  were  dust.  Many  of  the  pretended  facts  lived 
in  the  open  mouth  of  credulity.  They  were  in  the  waste-baskets  of 
forgctfulness.  They  dependecl  upon  the  innaccuracy  of  legend,  and  for 
centuries  these  doctrines  and  stories  were  blown  about  by  the  incon- 
stant winds.  And  when  reduced  to  writing,  some  gentleman  would 
write  by  the  side  of  the  passage,  his  idea  of  it,  and  the  next  copyist 
would  put  that  in  as  a  part  of  the  text.  And  when  it  was  mostly  written, 
and  the  church  got  into  trouble,  and  wanted  a  passage  to  help  it  out, 
one  was  interpolated  to  order.  So  that  now  it  is  among  the  easiest 
things  in  the  world  to  pick  out  at  least  one  hundred  interpolations  in 
the  Testament.     And    I   will   pick   some  of   them   out  before   I   get 

through. 

And  let  me  say  here,  once  for  all,  that  for  the  man  Christ  I  have 
infinite  respect.  Let  me  say,  once  for  all,  that  the  place  where  man 
has  died  for  man  is  holy  ground.  And  let  me  say  once  for  all,  that  to 
the  great  and  serene  man  I  gladly  pay,  gladly  pay,  the  tribute  of  my 
admiration  and  my  tears.  He  was  a  reformer  in  his  day.  He  was  an 
infidel  in  his  time.  He  waTl^gardg^lL8T]]3!^}^liI^  and  his  life 
was  dggtreyed'^jr^pQCUtefi,  who  Rave  tn  a^i^^  <unu.:  what  they 
cottld  to  trample  freedouu  and  manhooil  f  the  hiu!!    n  nmil.      Had 

^r  lived  at  that  time  I  would  "fiav^ljeeh  his  friend,  and  should  he  come 
^ again  he  will  not  find  a  better  friend  than  I  will  be. 

That  is  for  the  man.  For  the  theological  creation  I  have  a 
different  feeling^  If  he  was,  in  fact,  God,  he  knew  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  death.  |^He  knew  that  what  we  called  death  was  but  the 
eternal  opening  Mthe  golden  gates  of  everl^ting  joy;  and  it  took  no 
heroism  to  face  a  death  that  was  eternal  life.) 

But  when  a  man,  when  a  poor  boy  sixteen  years  of  age,  goes  upon 
the  field  of  battle  to  keep  his  flag  in  heaven,  not  knowing  but  that 
death  ends  all ;  not  knowing  but  that  when  the  shadows  creep  over 
him,  that  darkness  will  be  eternal,  there  is  heroism.  For  the  man 
who  in  the  darkness,  said  :  **My  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me  ?" — for  that  man  I  have  nothing  but  respect,  admiration,  and  love. 
Back  of  the  theological  shreds,  rags  and  patches,  hiding  the  real 
Christ,  I  see  a  genuine  man. 

A  while  ago  I  made  up  my  mind  to  find  out  what  was  necessary 
for  me  to  do  in  order  to  be  saved.  If  I  have  got  a  soul,  I  want  it 
saved.     I  do  not  wish  to  lose  anything  that  is  of  value. 


i 


^ 


} 


; 


I 


For  thousands  of  years  the  world  has  been  asking  that  question  : 

"What  must  we  do  to  be  saved?  " 

Saved  from  poverty?  No.  Saved  from  crime?  No.  Tyranny? 
No.  But  "What  must  we  do  to  be  saved  from  the  eternal  wrath  of  the 
God  who  made  us  all?  " 

If  God  made  us,  he  will  not  destroy  us.  Infinite  wisdom  never 
made  a  poor  investment.  Upon  all  the  works  of  an  infinite  God,  a 
dividend  must  finally  be  declared.  Why-should  God  make  failures? 
Why  should  he  waste  material?  Why  should  he  not  correct  his 
mistakes,  instead  of  damning  them?  The  pulpit  has  cast  a  shadow 
over  even  the  cradle.  The  doctrine  of  endless  punishment  has  cover 
ed  the  cheeks  of  this  world  with  tears.     I  despise  it,  and  I  defy  it 

I  made  up  my  mind,  I  say,  to  see  what  I  had  to  do  to  save  my  soul 
according  to  the  Testament,  and  thereupon  I  read  it.  I  read  the 
gospels,  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  and  found  that  th.e 
church  had  been  deceiving  me.  I  found  that  the  clergy  did  not  un 
derstand  their  own  book  ;  that  they  had  been  building  upon  passages 
that  had  been  interpolated  ;  upon  passages  that  were  entirely  untrue, 
and  I  will  tell  you  why  I  think  so. 


II 

THE  GOSPEL  OF   MATTHEW. 

According  to  the  church,^  the  first  Gospel  was  written  by  Matthew. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  he  neyer_wrQte.A  word  of  it — never  saw  it,  never 
heard  of  it,  and  probably  never  will.  But  for  the  purposes  of  this 
lecture  I  admit  that  he  wrote  it.  I  will  admit  that  he  was  with 
Christ  for  three  years;  that  he  was  his  constant  companion  ;  that  he 
shared  his  sorrows  and  his  triumphs;  that  he  heard  his  words  by  the 
lonely  lakes,  the  barren  hills,  in  synagogue  and  street,  and  that  he 
knew  his  heart  and  became  acquainted  with  his  thoughts  and  aims. 

Now  let  us  see  what  Matthew  says  we  must  do  in  order  to  be 
saved.  And  I  take  it  that,  if  this  is  true,  Matthew  is  as  good  author- 
ity as  any  minister  in  the  world. 

The  first  thing  I  find  upon  the  subject  of  salvation  is  in  the  fifth 
chapter  of  Matthew,  and  it  is  embraced  in  what  is  commonly  known 
as  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.     It  is  as  follows: 

"Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."     Good! 

"Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy."  Good! 
whether  they  belong  to  any  church  or  not ;  whether  they  believe  the 
bible  or  not? 

"Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy."     Good! 

"Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God.  Blessed 
are  the  peacemakers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God. 
Blessed  are  they  which  are  persecuted  for  righteousness  sake,  for 
theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."     Good. 

In  the  same  sermon  he  says:  "Think  not  that  I  am  come  to 
destroy  the  law  of  the  Prophets.  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to 
fulfill."  And  then  he  makes  use  of  his  remarkable  language,  almost 
as  applicable  to-day  as  it  was  then.  "For  I  say  unto  you  that  except 
your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
Good. 


(6) 


(7) 


and   it  comes  directly 


In  the  sixth  chapter  I  find  the  following, 
after  the  prayer  known  as  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

*' For  if  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your  Heavenly  Father 
will  also  forgive  you;  but  if  ye  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses,  neither 
will  your  father  forgive  your  trespasses." 

I  accept  the  condition.  There  is  an  offer ;  I  accept  it.  If  you  will 
forgive  men  that  trespass  against  you,  God  will  forgive  your  tres- 
passes against  him.  I  accept  the  terms,  and  I  will  never  ask  any  God 
to  treat  me  better  than  I  treat  my  fellow-men.  There  is  a  square 
promise.  There  is  a  contract.  If  you  will  forgive  others  God  will 
forgive  you.  And  it  does  not  say  you  must  believe  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, or  be  baptised,  or  join  the  church,  or  keep  Sunday;  that  you 
must  count  beads,  or  pray,  or  become  a  nun,  or  a  priest;  that  you 
must  preach  sermons  or  hear  them,  build  churches  or  fill  them.  Not 
one  word  is  said  about  eating  or  fasting,  denying  or  believing.  It 
simply  says,  if  you  forgive  others  God  will  forgive  you  ;  and  it  must 
of  necessity  be  true.  No  god  could  afford  to  damn  a  forgiving  man. 
Suppose  God  should  damn  to  everlasiing  fire  a  man  so  great  and  good, 
that  he,  looking  from  the  abyss  of  hell,  would  forgive  God.— How 
would  a  god  feel  then? 

Now  let  me  make  myself  plain  upon  one  subject,  perfectly  plain. 
For  instance,  I  hate  Presbyterianism,but  I  know  hundreds  of  splendid 
Presbyterians.  Understand  me.  I  hate  Methodism,  and  yet  I  know 
hundreds  of  splendid  Methodists.  I  hate  Catholicism,  andf  like  Cath- 
olics.    I  hate  insanity  but  not  the  insane. 

I  do  not  war  against  men.     I  do  not  war  against  persons.      I  war 

against  certain  doctrines  that  I  believe  to  be   wrong.      But   I  give   to 

every  other  human  being  every  right  that  I  claim  for  myself. 

I  The  next  thing  that  I  find  is  in  the  seventh  chapter  and  the  second 

verse  :     "For  with  what  judgement  ye  judge,  ye  shall  be  judged  ;  and 

\  with  what    measure   ye  mete,    it   shall   be   measured   to  you   aeain  " 

Good!     That  suits  me!  T 

\  And  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Matthew:  VFor  whosoever  shall 
do  the  will  of  my  Father  that  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother  and 
sister  and  mother.  For  the  son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his 
father  wkh  his  angels,  and  then  he  shall  reward  every  man  accord- 
ing——.'J  To  the  church  he  belongs  to?  No.  According  to  his 
creed.  No.  To  the  manner  in  which  he  was  baptised.  No.  "Then 
he  shall  reward  every  man  according  to  his  works."  Good!  I  sub- 
scribe to  that  doctrine. 

And  in  the  eighteenth  chapter:  "And  Jesus  called  a  little  child 
to  him  and  stood  him  in  the  midst ;  and  said  :  'Verily  I  say  unto  you 
except  ye  be  converted  and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  "  I  do  not  wonder  that  in  his  day, 
surrounded  by  scribes  and  Pharisees,  he  turned  lovingly  to  little 
children. 

And  yet,  see  what  children  the  children  of  God  have  been.  What 
an  interesting  dimpled  darling  lohn  Calvin  was.  Think  of  that  prat- 
tling babe,  Iflx^athan  Edwards  V  Think  of  the  infants  that  founded 
the  inquisition,  that  invented  instruments  of  torture  to  tear  human 
fiesh  They  were  the  ones  who  had  become  little  children.  Thev 
were  the  children  of  faith. 

So  I  find  in  the  nineteenth  chapter :  "And  behold,  one  came  and 
said  unto  him:  'Good  master,  what  good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I  may 
have  eternal  life?'     And  he   said   unto  him.     'Why  callest  thou  me 

(8) 


t 


> 


i. 


\ 


} 


V 


y 


; 


1 


^ood  ?    There  is  none  good  but  one,  that  is  God:  but  if  thou  wilt  enter 
into  life,  keep  the  commandments.'     He  saith  unto  him  'which? '  " 

Now  there  is  a  fair  issue.  Here  is  a  child  of  God  asking  Gnd 
what  is  necessary  for  him  to  do  in  order  to  inherit  eternal  life.  And 
God  said  to  him:  Keep  the  commandments.  And  the  children  said  to 
the  Almighty:  "  Which? "  Now  if  there  ever  has  been  an  opportun- 
ity given  to  the  Almighty  to  furnish  a  man  of  an  inquiring  mind  with 
the  necessary  information  upon  that  subject,  here  was  that  opportun- 
ity. '*He  said  unto  him,  which?  And  Jesus  said:  Thou  shaft  do  np 
murder ;  thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery;  thou  shalt  not  steal ;  thou 
shalt  not  bear  false  witness  ;  honor  thy  father  and  mother :  and  thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

He  did  not  say  to  him  :  "You  must  believe  in  me— that  I  am  the 
only  begotten  son  of  the  living  God."  He  did  not  say:  "You  must 
be  born  again."  He  did  not  say.  "You  must  believe  the  bible."  He 
did  not  say:  "You  must  remember  the  sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy." 
He  simply  said:  "Thou  shalt  do  no  murder.  Thou  shalt  not  com- 
mit adultery.     Tl;ou  shalt  not  steal.     Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  wii- 


\y 


ness.     Honor  thy  father  and   thy   mother;   and   thou   shalt  love 
neighbor  as  thyself."     And  thereupon  the  young  man,  who  I  think 
was  mistaken,  said  unto  him  :     "All  these  things  have  I  kept  from  my 
youth  up." 

What  right  has  the  church  to  add  conditions  of  salvation?  Why 
should  we  suppose  that  Christ  failed  to  tell  the  young  man  all  that  was 
necessary  for  him  to  do?  Is  it  possible  that  he  left  out  some  im- 
portant thing  simply  to  mislead?  Will  some  minister  tell  us  wlr,  he 
thinks  that  Christ  kept  back  the  "scheme."? 

Now  comes  an  interpolation. 

In  the  old  times  when  the  church  got  a  little   scarce  of  money, 
they  always  put  in   a   passage   praising   poverty.     So  they   had   this - 
young  man  ask:     "What  lack  I  yet?  "     And  Jesus  said  unto  him:     If 
thou  wilt  be   perfect,  go  and   sell  what    thou   hast   and   give   to   the 
poor,  and  thou  shall  have  treasure  in  heaven." 

The  church   has   always  been   willing   to   swap  off  treasures   in 
heaven  for  cash  down.     And  when   the   next  verse   was   written    the 
church  must  have  been  nearly  bankrupt.     "And  again  I  say  unto  you 
itis  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  oT-a"  needle  ^fenr^oT^ 
acEananlo  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."     Did  you  ever  know   a 
wealthy  disciple  to  unload  on  account  of  that  verse?    '  •^— — — — — ■ 

And  then  comes  another  verse,  which  I  believe  is  an  int«|po|«- 
tion:  "And  everyone  that  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren,  or 
sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands  for  my 
name's  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundred  fold,  and  shall  inherit  ever- 
lasting life." 

Christ  never  said  it.  Never.  "Whosoever  shall  forsake  father 
and  mother." 

Why,  he  said  to  this  man  that  asked  him,  What  shall  I  ilo  to  in- 
herit eternal  life.?"  Among  other  things  he  said:  "Honor  thy  father 
and  thy  mother."  And  we  turn  over  the  page  and  he  says  again:  "If 
you  will  desert  your  father  and  mother  you  shall  have  everlasting 
life."  It  will  not  do.  If  you  will  desert  your  wife  and  your  little 
children,  or  your  lands— the  idea  of  putting  a  house  and  lot  on  equal- 
ity with  wife  and  children!  Think  of  that!  I  do  not  accept  the 
terms.  I  will  never  desert  the  one  I  love  for  the  promise  of  any 
god.  * 

(9) 


\ 


\ 


It  is  far  more  important  to  love  your  wife  than  to  love  God,  and  I 
will  tell  you  why.  You  cannot  help  him,  but  you  can  help  her.  You 
can  fill  her  life  with  the  perfume  of  perpetual  joy.  It  is  far  more  im- 
portant that  you  love  your  children  than  that  you  love  Jesus  Christ. 
And  why?  If  he  is  God  you  cannot  help  him,  but  you  can  plant  a 
little  flower  of  happiness  in  every  footstep  of  the  child,  from  the 
cradle  until  you  die  in  that  child's  arms.  Let  me  tell  you  to-day  it  is 
far  more  important  to  build  a  home  than  to  erect  a  church.  The 
holiest  temple  beneath  the  stars  is  a  home  that  love  has  built.  And 
the  holiest  alter  in  all  the  wide  world  is  the  fireside  around  which 
gather  father  and  mother  and  the  sweet  babes. 

There  was  a  time  when  people  believed  the  infamy  commanded 
in  this  frightful  passage.  There  was  a  time  when  they  did  desert 
fathers  and  mothers  and  wives  and  children.  St.  Augustine  says  to 
the  devotee  :  "Fly  to  the  desert,  and  though  your  wife  put  her  arms 
around  your  ueck,  tear  her  hands  away;  she  is  a  temptation  of  the 
devil.  Though  your  father  and  mother  throw  their  bodies  athwart 
your  threshold,  step  over  them ;  and  though  your  children  persue, 
and  with  weeping  eyes  beseech  you  to  return,  listen  not.  It  is  the 
tcmptationof  the  evil  one.  Fly  to  the  desert  and  save  your  soul." 
Think  of  such  a  soul  being  worth  saving.  While  I  live  I  propose  to 
stand  by  the  ones  I  love. 

There  is  another  condition  of  salvation.  I  find  it  in  the  twenty- 
fifth  chapter:  "Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand, 
Come,  ye  blessed  of  My  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  For  I  was  an  hungered  and  ye  gave 
me  meat ;  I  was  thirsty  and  ye  gave  me  drink ;  I  was  a  stranger  and 
ye  took  me  in ;  naked  and  ye  clothed  me  ;  I  was  sick  and  ye  visited 
me ;  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  came  unto  me."     Good  ! 

I  tell  you  to-night  that  God  will  not  punish  with  eternal  thirst 
the  man  who  has  put  the  cup  of  cold  water  to  the  lips  of  his  neighbor 
God  will  not  leave  in  the  eternal  nakedness  of  pain  the  man  who  has 
clothed  his  fellow-men. 

For  instance,  here  is  a  shipwreck,  and  here  is  some  brave  sailor 
who  stands  aside  and  allows  a  woman  whom  he  never  saw  before  to 
take  his  place  in  a  boat,  and  he  stands  there,  grand  and  serene  as  the 
wide  sea,  and  he  goes  down.  Do  you  tell  me  that  there  is  any  God 
who  will  push  the  lifeboat  from  the  shore  of  eternal  life,  when  that 
man  wishes  to  step  in?  Do  you  tell  me  that  God  will  be  unpityinj? 
to  the  pitiful,  that  he  can  be  unforgiving  to  the  forgiving?  I  deny  it* 
and  from  the  aspersions  of  the  pulpit  I  seek  to  rescue  the  reputation 
of  the  Deity. 

Now  I  have  read  you  substantially  everything  in  Matthew  on  the 
subject  of  salvation.    That  is  all  there  is.      Not  one  word  about  be- 
hcving  anything.     It  is  the  gospel  of  deed,  the  gospel  of  charity,  the 
gospel  of  self-denial ;  and  if  only  that  gospel  had  been  preached    per- 
\   secution  never  would  have  shed  one  drop  of  blood.     Not  one.       ' 

According  to  the  testimony  Matthew  was  well   acquainted   with 

According  to  the  testimony  he  had  been  with   him,   and   his 

for  years,  and  if  it  was   necessary  to  believe  anything  in 

heaven,  Matthew  should  have  told  us.     But  he  forgot 

aut  believe  it,  or  he  never   heard   of   it.     You   can  take 

lew  we  find  that  heaven  is  promised,  first,  to  the  poor  in 
cond,  to  the  merciful.     Third,  to  the  pure  in  heart.  Fourth, 

rio) 


t 


^ 


I 


^ 


-^ 


5 


to  the  peace  makers.  Fifth,  to  those  who  are  persecuted  for  righte- 
ousness' sake.  Sixth,  to  those  who  teach  and  keep  the  command- 
ments. Seventh,  to  those  who  forgive  men  that  trespass  against 
them.  Eighth,  that  we  will  be  judged  as  we  judge  others.  Ninth, 
that  they  who  receive  prophets  and  righteous  men  shall  receive  a 
prophet's  reward.  Tenth,  to  those  who  do  the  will  of  God.  Eleventh. 
that  every  man  shall  be  rewarded  according  to  his  works  Twelfth, 
to  those  who  become  as  little  children.  Thirteenth,  to  those  who 
forgive  the  trespasses  of  others.  Fourteenth,  to  the  perfect:  Thev 
who  sell  all  that  they  have  and  give  to  the  poor.  Fifteenth,  to  them 
who  forsake  houses,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  and  father,  ami 
mother,  and  wife,  and  children,  and  lands  for  the  sake  of  Christ  s 
name.  Sixteenth,  to  those  who  feed  the  hungry,  give  drink  to  the 
thirsty,  shelter  to  the  stranger,  clothes  to  the  naked,  comfort  to  the 
sick,  and  who  visit  the  prisoner. 

Nothing  else  is  said  with  regard  to  salvation  in  the  gospel,  ac 
cording  to  St.  Matthew.  Not  one  word  about  believing  the  Old  Test- 
ament to  have  been  inspired;  not  one  word  about  being  baptized  or 
joining  a  church;  not  one  word  about  believing  in  any  miracle;  not 
even  a  hint  that  it  was  necesary  to  believe  that  Christ  was  the  son  of 
God,  or  that  he  did  any  wonderful  or  miraculous  things,  or  that  lie 
was  born  of  a  virgin,  or  that  his  coming  had  been  foretold  by  the 
Jewish  prophets.  Not  one  word  about  believing  in  the  trinity,  or  in 
foreordination  or  predestination.  Matthew  had  not  understo<x! 
from  Christ  that  any  such  things  were  necessary  to  ensure  the  salva- 
tion of  the  soul. 

According  to  the  testimony,  Matthew  had  l)een  in  the  company 
of  Christ,  some  say  three  years  and  some  say  one,  but  at  least  he  had 
been  with  him  long  enough  to  find  out  some  of  his  ideas  upon  this 
great  subject.  And  yet  Matthew  never  got  the  impression  that  it  was 
necessary  to  believe  something  in  order  to  get  to  heaven.  He  sup 
posed  that  if  a  man  forgave  others  God  would  forgive  him  lie  l>eliev» 
ed  that  God  would  show  mercy  to  the  merciful;that  he  would  not  allow 
those  who  fed  the  hungry  to  starve  ;  that  he  would  not  put  in  the 
flames  of  hell  those  who  had  given  cold  water  to  the  thirsty;  that  he 
would  not  cast  into  the  eternal  dungeon  of  his  wrath  those  who  had 
visited  the  imprisoned;  and  that  he  would  not  damn  men  who  forgave 
others. 

Matthew  had  it  in  his  mind  that  God  would  treat  us  very  much 
as  we  treat  other  people ;  and  that  in  the  next  world  he  would  treat 
with  kindness  those  who  had  been  loving  and  gentle  in  their  lives.  It 
may  be  the  apostle  was  mistaken  ;  but  evidently  that  was  his  opinion. 


III. 


THE  GOSPKL  OF  MARK. 

Let  us  now  see  what  Mark  thought  it  necessary  for  a  man  t9  do  to 
save  his  soul.  In  the  fourth  chapter,  after  Jesus  had  given  to  the 
multitude  by  the  sea  the  parable  of  the  sower,  his  disciples,  when 
they  were  again  alone,  asked  him  the  meaning  of  the  psraole.  Jesui 
replied : 

"Unto  you  it  is  given  to  know  the  mystery  of  the  kingdom  of  Go<i: 
but  unto  them  that  are  without,  all  these  thing[S  are  done  in  parables : 

"That  seeing,  they  may  see  and  not   perceive;   and   hearing   they 


.^v 


Cr, 


\ 


may  hear,  and  not  understand;  lest  at  any  time  they  should  be  con- 
verted, and  their  sins  should  be  forgiven  them." 

It  is  a  little  hard  to  understand  why  he  should  have  preached  to 
the  people  that  he  did  not  intend  should  know  his  meaning.  Neither 
IS  it  quite  clear  why  he  objected  to  their  being  converted.  This  I  sup- 
pose is  one  of  the  mysteries  that  we  should  simply  believe  without  en- 
deavoring to  comprehend. 

With  the  above  exception,  and  one  other  that  I  will  mention  here- 
after, Mark  substantially  agrees  vrith  Matthew,  and  says  that  Go<l  will 
be  merciful  to  the  merciful,  that  he  will  be  kind  to  the  kind,  that  he  will 
pity  the  pitying,  and  love  the  loving.  Mark  upholds  the  religion  of 
M  thew  until  we  come  to  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  verses  of  the 
sixteenth  chapter,  and  then  I  strike  an  interpolation  put  in  by 
hypocrisy,  put  in  by  priests  who  longed  to  grasp  with  bloody  hands 
the  sceptre  of  universal  power.  Let  me  read  it  to  you.  It  is  the  most 
infamous  passage  in  the  bible.  Christ  never  said  it.  No  sensible  man 
ever  said  it. 

"And  He  said  unto  them"  (that  is,  unto  his  disciples),  "go  ye 
into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that 
beheveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  damned." 

That  passage  was  written  so  that  fears  would  give  alms  to  hypo- 
crisy. Now,  I  propose  to  prove  to  you  that  this  is  an  interpolation. 
How  will  I  do  It  ?  In  the  first  place,  not  one  word  is  said  about  belief 
in  Matthew.  In  the  next  place,  not  one  word  about  belief  in  Mark 
until  I  come  to  that  verse,  and  where  is  that  said  to  have  been  spoken? 
According  to  Mark,  it  is  a  part  of  the  last  conversation  of  Jesus  Christ 
()ust  before,  according  to  the  account,  he  ascended  bodily  before  their 
eyes.)  If  there  ever  was  any  important  thing  happened  in  this  world 
that  was  it.  If  there  was  any  conversation  that  people  would  be  apt  to 
recollect,  it  would  be  the  last  conversation  with  a  god  before  he  rose 
visibly  through  the  air  and  seated  himself  upon  the  throne  of  tho 
infinite.  We  have  in  this  Testament  five  accounts  of  the  last  conver- 
sation happening  between  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles.  Matthew 
gives  It,  and  yet  Matthew  does  not  state  that  in  that  conversation 
Christ  said:  "Whoso  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  and 
whoso  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  And  if  he  did  say  those  words 
they  were  the  most  important  that  ever  fell  from  lips.  Matthew  did 
not  hear  it,  or  did  not  believe  it,  or  forgot  it. 

Then  I  turn  to  Luke,  and  he  gives  an  account  of  this  same  last 
conversation,  and  not  one  word  does  he  say  upon  that  subject.  Luke 
does  not  pretend  that  Christ  said  that  whoso  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned.  Luke  certainly  did  not  hear  it.  May  be  he  forgot  it.  Per- 
haps he  did  not  think  that  it  was  worth  recording.  Now  it  is  the  most 
important  thing,  if  Christ  said  it,  that  he  ever  said. 

Then  I  turn  to  John,  and  he  gives  an  account  of  the  last  conversa- 
tion,but  not  one  solitary  word  on  the   subject   of  belief  or  unbelief 
Not  one  solitary  word  on  the  subject  of  damnation.     Not  one.^    John 
might  not  have  been  listening. 

Then  I  turn  to  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts,  and  there  I  find  an 
account  of  the  last  conversation  ;  and  in  that  conversation  there  is  not 
one  word  upon  this  subject.  This  is  a  demonstration  that  the  passage 
in  Mark  is  an  interpolation.  What  other  reason  have  I  got  ?  There 
is  not  one  particle  of  sense  in  it.  Why  ?  No  man  can  control  his 
belief.     You  hear  evidence  for  and  against,  and  the  integrity  of  the 


i 


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i 


{ 


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/ 


soul  stands  at  the  scales  and  tells  which  side  rises  and  which  side 
falls.  You  can  not  believe  as  you  wish.  You  must  believe  as  you 
must.  And  he  might  as  well  have  said:  "Go  into  the  world  and 
preach  the  gospel,  and  whosoever  has  red  hair  shall  be  saved,  and 
whosoever  hath  not  shall  be  damned." 

I  have  another  reason.  I  am  much  obliged  to  the  gentleman  who 
interpolated  these  passages.  I  am  much  obliged  to  him  that  he  put 
in  some  more — two  more.     Now  hear  : 

"  And  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe."     Good  ! 

"In  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils;  they  shall  speak  with 
new  tongues ;  they  shall  take  up  serpents,  and  if  they  drink  any 
deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them.  They  shall  lay  hands  on  the 
sick  and  they  shall  recover." 

Bring  on  your  believer !  I.,et  him  cast  out  a  devil.  I  do  not  ask 
for  a  large  one.  Just  a  little  one  for  a  cent.  Let  him  take  up  serpents. 
"And  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them."  Let 
me  mix  up  a  dose  for  the  believer,  and  if  it  does  not  hurt  him  I  will 
join  a  church.  "Oh!  but,"  they  say,  "these  things  only  lasted 
through  the  Apostolic  age."  Let  us  see.  "  Go  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  gospel,  and  whosoever  believes  and  is  baptized  shall  be 
saved,  and  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe." 

How  long  ?  I  think  at  least  until  they  had  gone  into  all  the 
world.  Certainly  those  signs  should  follow  until  all  the  world  had 
been  visited.  And  yet  if  that  declaration  was  in  the  mouth  of  Christ, 
he  then  knew  that  one-half  of  the  world  was  unknown,  and  that  he 
would  be  dead  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty-nine  years  before  his  dis- 
ciples would  know  that  there  was  another  continent.  And  yet  he 
said,  "  Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel,"  and  he  knew 
then  that  it  would  be  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty-nine  years  before 
anybody  could  go.  Well,  if  it  was  worth  while  to  have  signs  follow 
believers  in  the  Old  World,  surely  it  was  worth  while  to  have  signs 
follow  believers  in  the  New.  And  the  very  reason  that  signs  should 
follow  would  be  to  convince  the  unbeliever,  and  there  are  as  many 
unbelievers  now  as  ever,  and  the  signs  are  as  necessary  to-day  as  thev 
ever  were.     I  would  like  a  few  myself. 

This  frightful  declaration,  "He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned,"  has  filled 
the  world  with  agony  and  crime.  Every  letter  of  this  page  has  been 
sword  and  fagot;  every  word  has  been  dungeon  and  chain.  That 
passage  made  the  sword  of  persecution  drip  with  innocent  blood 
through  centuries  of  agony  and  crime.  That  passage  made  the  hori- 
zon of  a  thousand  years  lurid  with  the  fagot's  flames.  That  passage 
contradicts  the  sermon  on  the  mount;  travesties  the  Lord's  prayer; 
turns  the  splendid  religion  of  deed  and  duty  into  the  superstition  of 
creed  and  cruelty.     I  deny  it.     It  is  infamous !    Christ  never  said  it ! 


(12^ 


IV. 

THE  GOSPKI.  OF  LUKE. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  Luke  agrees  substantially  with  Matthew 
and  Mark. 

"Be  ye  therefore  merciful,  as  your  Father  also  is   merciful." 
Good! 

^13) 


-T< 


5 


II 


Judge  not  and  ye  shall  not  be  judged  ;  condemn  not  and  ye  shall 
not  be  condemned  ;  forgive  and  and  ye  shall  be  forgiven."     Good  ! 

•'Give  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you;  good  measure,  pressed 
down  and  shaken  together,  and  running  over."     Good!     I  like  it. 

••For  with  the  same  measure  that  you  mete  withal,  it  shall  be 
flMasared  to  you  again." 

He  agreed  substantially  with  Mark  ;  he  agrees  substantially  with 
Matthew  ;  and  I  come  at  last  to  the  nineteenth  chapter. 

••  And  Zaccheus  stood  and  said  unto  the  Lord,  '  Behold,  Lord,  the 
half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor,  and  if  I  have  taken  anything 
from  any  man  by  false  accusation  I  restore  him  four  fold.'  And  Jesus 
said  unto  him,  '  this  day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house.'  " 

That  is  good  doctrine.  He  did  not  ask  Zaccheus  what  he  believed. 
He  did  not  ask  him,  *•  Do  you  believe  in  the  bible  ?  Do  you  believe 
in  the  five  points  ?  Have  you  ever  been  baptized — sprinkled  ?  Oh  ! 
immersed  ?  '  Half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor,  and  if  I  have 
taken  anytb  from  any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  restore  him  four 
fold."  '•  All  Christ  said,  this  day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house." 
Good! 

I  read  also  in  Luke  that  Christ  when  upon  the  cross  forgave  his 
murderers,  and  that  is  considered  the  shining  gem  in  the  crown  of  his 
mercy.  He  forgave  his  murderers.  He  forgave  the  men  who  drove 
the  nails  in  his  hands,  in  his  feet,  that  plunged  a  spear  in  his  side; 
the  soldier  that  in  the  hour  of  death  offered  him  in  mockery  the 
bitterness  to  drink,  pc  forgave  them  all  freely,  and  yet,  although  he 
would  forgive  them,  oe  will  in  the  nineteenth  century,  as  we  are  told 
by  the  orthodox  church,  damn  tov  eternal  fire  a  noble  man  for  the 
expression  of  his  honest  thoughts^  That  will  not  do.  I  find,  too,  in 
Luke  an  account  of  two  thieves  that  were  crucified  at  the  same  time. 
The  other  gospels  speaks  of  them.  One  says  they  both  railed  upon 
him.  Another  says  nothing  about  it.  In  Luke  we  are  told  that  one 
railed  upon  him,  but  one  of  the  thieves  looked  and  pitied  Christ,  and 
Christ  said  to  that  thief  : 

"  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise." 

Why  did  he  say  that  ?  Because  the  thief  pitied  him.  God  can 
not  afford  to  trample  beneath  the  feet  of  his  infinite  wrath  the  smallest 
blossom  of  pity  that  ever  shed  its  perfume  in  the  human  heart  I 

Who  was  this  thief  ?  To  what  church  did  he  belong  ?  I  do  not 
know.  The  fact  that  he  was  a  thief  throws  no  light  on  that  question. 
Who  was  he  ?  What  did  he  believe  ?  I  do  not  know.  Did  he  believe 
in  the  Old  Testament  ?  In  the  miracles  ?  I  do  not  know.  Did  he 
believe  that  Christ  was  God  ?  I  do  not  know  ?  Why  then  was  the 
promise  made  to  him  that  he  should  meet  Christ  in  paradise  ?  Simply 
because  he  pitied  suffering  innocence  on  the  cross. 

God  can  not  afford  to  damn  any  man  who  is  capable  of  pitying 
anybody. 


c 


> 


V. 
THE  GOSPEL  OF  JOHN. 

And  now  we  come  to  John,  and  that  is  where  the  trouble  com- 
mences. 

Tht  other  gospels  teach  that  God  will  be  merciful  to  the  merciful, 
forgiving  to  the  forgiving,  kind  to  the  kind,  loving  to  the  loving,  just 
to  the  justi  merciful  to  the  good. 

(14) 


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Now  we  come  to  John,  and  here  is  another  doctrine.  And  allow 
me  to  say  that  John  was  not  written  until  long  after  the  others.  John 
was  mostly  written  by  the  church. 

"Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him  :  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
thee,  except  a  man  be  born  again  he  can  not  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Why  did  he  not  tell  Matthew  that  ?  Why  did  he  not  tell  Luke 
that?  Why  did  he  not  tell  Mark  that  ?  They  never  heard  of  it.  or 
forgot  it,  or  they  did  not  believe  it. 

'•Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  eiiitr 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

•'That  which  is  bom  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born 
of  the  Spirit  is  spirit.  Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee.  Ye  must  be  born 
again."  •'That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh,  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is 
born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit,"  and  he  might  have  added,  that  which  is 
born  of  water  is  water. 

'•Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  *ye  must  be  born  again."  And 
then  the  reason  is  given,  and  I  admit  I  did  not  understand  it  myself 
until  I  read  the  reason,  and  when  you  hear  the  reason,  you  will  under- 
stand it  as  well  as  I  do;  and  here  it  is:  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it 
Cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth."  So,  I  find  in  the  book  of  John  the 
idea  of  the  Real  Presence. 

••And  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so 
must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up. 

"That  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
eternal  life. 


"For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  \ 


that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish  but  have   everlast 
ing  life. 

"For  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world, 
but  that  the  world  through  him  might  be  saved. 

"He  that  believeth  on  him  is  not  condemned,  but  he  that  believ- 
eth not  is  condemned  already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  in  the 
name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God."  \ 

"He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life:   and   he  that} 
believeth  not  the  Son,  shall  not  see  life ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abidetlr 
on  him  " 

"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  heareth  my  word,  and  be- 
lieveth on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come 
into  condemnation  ;  but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life.  . 

"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  hour  is  coming  and  now  is,  ) 
when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God;  and  they  that/ 
hear  shall  live." 

"And  shall  come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good  unto  the  resur- 
rection of  life  ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
damnation." 

"And  this  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me;  that  everyone 
which  seeth  the  Son,  and  believeth  on  him,  may  have  everlasting 
life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day." 

"No  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  father,  which  has  ^ent  nie, 
draw  him ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day." 

"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  believeth  on  me  b*U 
lasting  life. 

"I  am  that  bread  of  life. 

"Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  wilderness,  and  are  dead. 

(15) 


Ci  - 


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no   man   can    come 


>» 


\ 


**This  is  the  bread  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  that  a  man 
may  eat  thereof,  and  not  die. 

"I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven.  If  any 
tnaii  eat  of  this  bread  he  shall  live  for  ever ;  and  the  bread  that  I  will 
give  is  my  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world." 

"Then  Jesus  said  unto  them,  verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  ex- 
cept ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man  and  dnnk  his  blood,  ye  have 
no  life  in  you. 

C"^       "Whoso  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life; 
and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day. 

"For  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed. 
"He  that  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me, 
and  I  in  him. 

"As  the  living  Father  has  sent  me,  and  I  live  by  my  father;  so  he 
that  eateth  me,  even  he  shall  live  by  me. 

"This  is  that  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven;  not  as  your 
fathers  did  eat  maima,  and  are  dead ;  he  that  eateth  of  this  bread 
shall  live  for  ever." 

"And  he  said,  therefore  said  I  unto  you,  that 
unto  me,  except  it  were  given  him  of  my  Father. 

"Jesus    said  unto  her,  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life;  he  that 
believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live. 
„*— ■•'**^*And  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me,  shall  never  die." 
}   I  "He  that  loveth  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  and  he  that  hateth   his   life 

.  (  in  this  world,  shall  keep  it  unto  life  eternal." 

So  I  find  in  the  book  of  John,  that  in  order  to  be  saved  we  must 
not  only  believe  in  Christ,  but  we  must  eat  the  flesh  and  we  must 
drink  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  that  gospel  is  true,  the  Catholic 
church  is  right.  But  it  is  not  true.  I  cannot  believe  it,  and  yet  for 
all  that,  it  may  be  true.  But  I  do  not  believe  it.  Neither  do  I  believe 
there  is  any  god  in  the  universe  who  will  damn  a  man  simply  for  ex- 
pressing his  belief. 

"  Why,"  they  say  to  me,  "  suppose  all  this  should  turn  out  to  be 
true,  and  you  should  come  to  the  day  of  judgment  and  find  all  these 
things  to  be  true.  What  would  you  do  then?"  I  would  walk  up  like 
a  man  and  say,  "  I  was  mistaken." 

"  And  suppose  God  was  about  to  pass  judgment  upon  you,  what 
would  you  say?  I  would  say  to  him,  "  Do  unto  others  as  you  would 
that  others  should  do  unto  you."     Why  not? 

I  am  told  that  I  must  render  good  for  evil.  I  am  told  that  if 
smitten  on  one  cheek  I  must  turn  the  other.  I  am  told  that  I  must 
overcome  evil  with  good.  lam  told  that  I  must  love  my  enemies  ; 
and  will  it  do  for  this  God  who  tells  me  to  love  my  enemies  to  damn 
his?    No,  it  will  not  do.     It  will  not  do. 

In  the  book  of  John  all  these  doctrines  of  regeneration — that  it  is 
necessary  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  that  salvation  depends 
upon  belief — in  this  book  of  John  all  these  doctrines  find  their  war- 
rant ;  nowhere  else. 
y^       Read  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke,  and  then  read  John,  and  you  will 
(    agree  with  me  that  the   three  first   gospels   teach   that  if  we  are  kind 
\    and  forgiving  to  our  fellows  God   will   be   kind   and  forgiving  to  us. 
\  In  John  we  are  told  that  another  man  can  be  good   for  us,  or  bad  for 
\iis,  and  that  the  only   way  to  get  to  heaven  is  to  believe  something 
that  we  know  is  not  so. 


Ci6) 


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\ 


All  these  passages  about  believing  in  Christ,  drinking  his  blood 
and  eating  his  flesh,  are  afterthoughts.  They  were  written  by  the 
theologians,  and  in  a  few  years  they  will  be  considered  unworthy  of 
the  lips  of  Christ. 


VI. 

THE  CATHOLICS. 

Now  upon  these  gospels  that  I  have  read  the  churches  rest ;  and 
out  of  these  things,  mistakes  and  interpolations,  they  have  made  their 
creeds.  And  the  first  church  to  make  a  creed,  so  far  as  I  know,  was 
the  Catholic.  It  was  the  first  church  that  ever  had  any  power.  That  is 
the  church  that  has  preserved  all  these  miracles  for  us.  That  is  the 
church  that  preserved  the  manuscripts  for  us.  That  is  the  church 
whose  word  we  have  to  take.  That  church  is  the  first  witness  that 
Protestantism  brought  to  the  bar  of  history  to  prove  miracles  that 
took  place  eighteen  hundred  years  ago ;  and  while  the  witness  is 
there  Protestantism  takes  pains  to  say:  "You  cannot  believe  one 
word  that  witness  says,  now.'' 

That  church  is  the  only  one  that  keeps  up  a  constant  communi- 
cation with  heaven  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  large  number  of 
decayed  saints.  That  church  has  an  agent  of  God  on  earth,  has  a 
person  who  stands  in  the  place  of  deity  ;  and  that  church  is  infallible. 
That  church  has  persecuted  to  the  exact  extent  of  her  power— and 
always  will.  In  Spain  that  church  stands  erect,  and  is  arrogant.  In 
the  United  States  that  church  crawls;  but  the  object  in  both  countries 
is  the  same— and  that  is  the  destruction  of  intellectual  liberty.  That 
church  teaches  us  that  we  can  make  God  happy  by  being  miserable 
ourselves ;  that  a  nun  is  holier  in  the  sight  of  God  than  a  loving 
mother  with  her  child  in  her  thrilled  and  thrilling  arms  ;  that  a  priest 
is  better  than  a  father ;  that  celibacy  is  better  than  that  passion  of 
love  that  has  made  everything  of  beauty  in  this  world.  That  church 
tells  the  girl  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  of  age,  with  eyes  like  dew 
and  light ;  that  girl  with  the  red  of  health  in  the  white  of  her  beauti- 
ful cheeks— tells  that  girl,  "  Put  on  the  veil,  woven  of  death  and  night, 
kneel  upon  stones,  and  you  will  please  God." 

I  tell  you  that,  by  law,  no  girl  should  be  allowed  to  take  the  veil 
and  renounce  the  joys  and  beauties  of  this  life. 

I  am  opposed  to  allowing  these  spider-like  priests  to  weave  webs 
to  catch  the  loving  maidens  of  the  world.  There  ought  to  be  a  law 
appointing  commissioners  to  visit  such  places  twice  a  year  and  release 
every  person  who  expresses  a  desire  to  be  released.  I  do  not  believe 
in  keeping  the  penitentiaries  of  God.  No  doubt  they  are  honest 
about  it.  That  is  not  the  question.  These  ignorant  superstitions  fill 
millions  of  lives  with  weariness  and  pain,  with  agony  and  tears. 

This  church,  after  a  few  centuries  of  thought,  made  a  creed,  and 
that  creed  is  the  foundation  of  the  orthodox  religion.  Let  me  read  it 
to  you  : 

"Whosoever  will  be  saved,  before  all  things  it  is  necessary  that 
he  hold  the  Catholic  faith  ;  which  faith  except  every  one  do  keep 
entire  and  inviolate,  without  doubt  he  shall  everlastingly  perish." 
Now  the  faith  is  this:  "That  we  worship  one  God  in  trinity,  and 
trinity  in  unity." 


Of  course  you  understand  how  that  is  done,  and  there  is  no  need 
of  my  explaining  it.  "Neither  confounding  the  person  nor  dividing 
the  substance."  You  see  what  a  predicament  that  would  leave  the 
deity  in  if  you  divided  the  substance. 

"For  one  is  the  person  of  the  Father,  another  of  the  Son,  and 
another  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  but  the  Godhead  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  all  one  "—you  know  what  I  mean 
by  Godhead.  "  In  glory  equal,  and  in  majesty  co-eternal.  Such  as 
the  Father  is,  such  is  the  Son.  such  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Father 
19  uncreated,  the  Son  uncreated,  the  Holy  Ghost  uncreated  The 
Father  incomprehensible,  the  Son  incomprehensible,  the  Holy  Ghost 
incomprehensible."  And  that  is  the  reason  we  know  so  much  about 
the  thing.  "The  Father  is  eternal,  the  Son  eternal,  the  Holy  Ghost 
eternal,  and  yet  there  are  not  three  eternals  only  one  eternal,  as  also 
there  are  not  three  uncreated,  nor  three  incomprehensibles.  only  one 
uncreated,  one  incomprehensible." 

"In  like  manner,  the  Father  is  almighty,  the  Son  almighty,  the 
Holy  Ghost  almighty.     Yet  there  are  not  three  almighties,  only  one 
Almighty.     So  the  Father  is  God,  the  Son  God,  the  Holy  Ghost  God 
and  yet  not  three  Gods  ;  and  so,  likewise,  the  Father  is  Lord,  the  Sou 
is  Lord,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  Lord,  yet  there  are  not  three  Lords,  for  as 
we  are  compelled  by  the  Christian  truth  to  acknowledge  every  person 
by  himself  to  be  God   and  Lord,  so  we  are  forbidden  by  the  Catholic 
religion  to  say  there  are  three  Gods,  or  three  Lords.     The  Father  is 
made  of  no  one  ;  not  created  or  begotten.     The  Son  is  from  the  Father 
alone,  not  made,  not  created,  but  begotten.     The  Holy  Ghost  is  from 
the  leather  and  the  Son,  not  made  or  begotten,  but  proceeding  " 
You  know  what  proceeding  is. 

"  So  there  is  one  Father,  not  three  Fathers."     Why  should  there 

be  three  Fathers,  and  only  one  Son  ?     "  One  Son  and  not  three  Sons  • 

one  Holy   Ghost,   and  not   three   Holy   Ghosts  ;  and  in   this  Trinity 

there  is  nothing  before  or  afterward,  nothing  greater  or  less,  but  the 

whole  three  persons  are  co-eternal  with  one  another  and  co-equal,  so 

that  in  all  things  the  unity  is  to  be  worshiped  in  the  Trinity,  and  the 

Trinity  IS  to  be  worshiped  in  unity.     Those  who  will  be  saved  must 

thus  think  of  the  Trinity.     Furthermore,  it  is  necessary  to  everlasting 

salvation  that   he   also  believe   rightly   the   incarnation   of  our  Lord 

Jesus   Christ.     Now  the  right  of  this  thing  is  this :  That  we  believe 

and  confess  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  both  God 

and  man.     He  is  God  of  the  substance  of  his  Father  begotten  before 

the  world  was." 

That  was  a  good  while  before  his  mother  lived. 

''And  he  is  man  of  the  substance  of  his  mother,  born  in  this 
world,  perfect  God  and  perfect  man,  and  the  rational  soul  in  human 
flesh,  subsisting  equal  to  the  Father  according  to  his  Godhead,  but 
less  than  the  Father  according  to  his  manhood,  who  being  both  God 
and  man  is  not  two  but  one,  one  not  by  conversion  of  God  into  flesh 
but  by  the  taking  of  the  manhood  into  God."  ' 

You  see  that  is  a  great  deal  easier  than  the  other  way  would  be. 
One  altogether,  not  by  a  confusion  of  substance  but  by  unity  of 
person,  for  as  the  rational  soul  and  the  flesh  is  one  man,  so  God  and 
man  is  one  Christ,  who  suffered  for  our  salvation,  descended  into  hell 
rose  again  the  third  day  from  the  dead,  ascended  into  heaven,  and 
and  he  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  and  He 
shall  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead." 


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In  order  to  be  saved  it  is  necessary  to  believe  this.  What  a  bless- 
ing that  we  do  not  have  to  understand  it.  And  in  order  to  compel  the 
human  intellect  to  get  upon  its  knees  before  that  infinite  absurdity, 
thousands  and  millions  have  suffered  agonies  ;  thousands  and  thou- 
sands have  perished  in  dungeons  and  in  fire;  and  if  all  the  bones  of 
all  the  victims  of  the  Catholic  church  could  be  gathered  together  a 
monument  higher  than  all  the  pyramids  would  rise,  in  the  presence 
of  which  the  eyes  even  of  priests  would  be  wet  with  tears. 

uu^5^^  church  covered   Europe  with  cathedrals  and  dungeons,  and 
robbed    men  of  the  jewel  of  the  soul.     That  church   had  ignorance 
upon  Its  knees.     That  church  went  in  partnership  with  the  tyrants  of 
the  throne,  and  between  those  two  vultures,  the  altar  and  the  throne 
the  heart  of  man  was  devoured.  ' 

Of  course  I  have  met,  and  cheerfully  admit  that  there  are  thou- 
sands of  good  Catholics;  but  Catholicism  is  contrary  to  human 
liberty.  Catholicism  bases  salvation  upon  belief.  Catholicism  teaches 
man  to  trample  his  reason  under  foot.  And  for  that  reason  it  is 
wrong. 

Thousands  of  volumes  could  not  contain  the  crimes  of  the  Catholic 
church.  They  could  not  contain  even  the  names  of  her  victims  With 
sword  and  fire,  with  rack  and  chain,  with  dungeon  and  whip  she 
endeavored  to  convert  the  world.  In  weakness  a  beggar— in  power  a 
highwayman— alms,  dish  or  dagger— tramp  or  tyrant. 


VII. 


THE  EPISCOPALIANS. 

The  next  church  I  wish  to  speak  of  is  the  Episcopalian.  That 
was  founded  by  Henry  VIII.,  now  in  heaven.  He  cast  off  Queen 
Catherine  and  Catholicism  together,  and  he  accepted  Episcopalianism 
and  Annie  Boleyn  at  the  same  time.  That  church,  if  it  had  a  few 
more  ceremonies,  would  be  Catholic.  If  it  had  a  few  less  nothing 
We  have  an  Episcopalian  church  in  this  country,  and  it  has  all  the 
imperfections  of  a  poor  relation.  It  is  always  boasting  of  its  rich 
relative.  In  England  the  creed  is  made  by  law.  the  same  as  we  pass 
statutes  here.  And  when  a  gentleman  dies  in  England,  in  order  to 
determine  whether  he  shall  be  saved  or  not,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
power  of  heaven  to  read  the  acts  of  parliament.  It  becomes  a  ques- 
tion of  law,  and  sometimes  a  man  is  damned  on  a  very  nice  point 
Lost  on  demurrer. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Seabury,  Samuel 
Seaburv,  was  sent  over  to  England  to  get  some  apostolic  succession. 
We  had  not  a  drop  in  the  house.  It  was  necessary  for  the  bishops  of 
the  English  church  to  put  their  hands  upon  his  head.  They  refused 
There  was  no  act  of  parliament  justifying  it.  He  had  then  to  go  to 
the  Scotch  bishops;  and,  had  the  Scotch  bishops  refused,  we  never 
would  have  had  any  apostolic  succession  in  the  New  World,  and  God 
would  have  been  driven  out  gf  half  the  earth,  and  the  true  church 
never  could  have  been  founded  upon  this  continent.  But  the  Scotch 
bishops  put  their  hands  on  his  head,  and  now  we  have  an  unbroken 
succession  of  heads  and  hands  from  St.  Paul  to  the  last  bishop 

In  this  country  the   Episcopalians   have  done   some  good   and  I 
want  to  thank  that  church.     Having  on  an  average  less  religion  than 

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the  others — on  an  average  you  have  done  more  good  to  mankind. 
You  preserved  some  of  the  humanities.  You  did  not  hate  music,  you 
did  not  absolutely  despise  painting,  and  you  did  not  altogether  abhor 
architecture,  and  you  finally  admitted  that  it  was  no  worse  to  keep 
time  with  your  feet  than  with  your  hands.  And  some  went  so  far  as 
to  say  that  people  could  play  cards  and  that  God  would  overlook  it, 
or  would  look  the  other  way.     For  all  these  things  accept  my  thanks. 

When  I  was  a  boy,  the  other  churches  looked  upon  dancing  as 
probably  the  mysterious  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  they  used  to 
teach  that  when  four  boys  got  in  a  hay-mow,  playing  seven-up,  that 
the  eternal  God  stood  waiting  to  strike  them  down  to  the  lowest  hell. 
That  church  has  done  some  good. 

The  Episcopal  creed  is  substantially  like  the  Catholic,  containing 
a  few  additional  absurdities.  The  Episcopalians  teach  that  it  is  easier 
to  get  forgiveness  for  sin  after  you  have  been  baptized.  They  seem 
to  think  that  the  moment  you  are  baptized  you  become  a  member  of 
the  firm,  and  as  such  are  entitled  to  wickedness  at  cost.  This  church 
is  utterly  unsuited  to  a  free  people.  Its  government  is  tyrannical, 
supercilious  and  absurd.  Bishops  talk  as  though  they  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  souls  in  their  charge.  They  wear  vests  that  button 
on  one  side.  Nothing  is  so  essential  to  the  clergy  of  this  denomina- 
tion as  a  good  voice.  The  Episcopalians  have  persecuted  just  to  the 
extent  of  their  power.  Their  treatment  of  the  Irish  has  been  a  crime— 
a  crime  lasting  for  three  hundred  years.  That  church  persecuted 
the  Puritans  of  England  and  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland.  In  Eng- 
land the  altar  is  the  mistress  of  the  throne,  and  this  mistress  has  al- 
ways looked  at  honest  wives  with  scorn. 


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VIII. 


THE  METHODISTS. 

About  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  two  men,  John  Wesley  and 
George  Whitfield,  said.  If  everybody  is  going  to  hell,  somebody  ought 
to  mention  it.  The  Episcopal  clergy  said  :  Keep  still;  do  not  tear 
your  gown.  Wesley  and  Whitfield  said  :  This  frightful  truth  ought 
to  be  proclaimed  from  the  housetop  of  every  opportunity,  from  the 
highway  of  every  occasion.  They  were  good  honest  men.  They  be- 
lieved their  doctrine.  And  they  said :  If  there  is  a  hell,  and  a 
Niagara  of  souls  pouring  over  an  eternal  precipice  of  ignorance,  some- 
body ought  to  say  something.  They  were  right;  somebody  ought,  if 
such  a  thing  is  true.  Wesley  was  a  believer  in  the  bible.  He  be- 
lieved in  the  actual  presence  of.  the  Almighty.  God  used  to  do 
niiracles  for  him;  used  to  put  off  a  rain  several  days  to  give  his  meet- 
ing a  chance;  used  to  cure  his  horses  of  lameness;  used  to  cure  Mr. 
Wesley's  headaches. 

And  Mr.  Wesley  also  believed  in  the  actual  existence  of  the  devil. 
He  believed  that  devils  had  possession  of  people.  He  talked  to  the 
devil  when  he  was  in  folks,  and  he  ^told  him  that  he  was  going  to 
leave;  and  that  he  was  going  into  another  person.  That  he  would  be 
there  at  a  certain  time;  and  Wesley  went  to  that  other  person,  and 
there  the  devil  was,  prompt  to  the  minute.  He  regarded  every  con- 
version as  warfare  between  God  and  this  devil  for   the  possession   of 

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that  human  soul,  and  that  in  the  warfare  God  had  gained  the  victory. 
Honest,  no  doubt.  Mr.  Wesley  did  not  believe  in  human  liberty. 
Honest,  no  doubt.  Was  opposed  to  the  liberty  of  the  Colonies. 
Honestly  so.  Mr.  'Vyesley  preached  a  sermon  entitled  :  "  The  Cause 
and  Cure  of  Earthquakes,  "  in  which  he  took  the  ground  that  earth- 
quakes were  caused  by  sin;  and  the  only  way  to  stop  them  was  to 
believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     No  doubt  an  honest  man. 

Wesley  and  Whitfield  fell  out  on  the  question  of  predestination. 
Wesley  insisted  that  God  invited  everybody  to  tlie  feast.  Whitfield 
said  he  did  not  invite  those  he  knew  would  not  come.  Wesley  said 
he  did.  Whitfield  said  :  Well,  he  did  not  put  plates  fo,  them,  any- 
way. Wesley  said  he  did.  So  that,  when  they  were  in  hell  he  could 
show  them  that  there  was  a  seat  left  for  them.  The  church  that  they 
founded  is  still  active.  And  probably  no  church  in  the  world  has 
done  so  much  preaching  for  as  little  money  as  the  Methodists.  Whit- 
field believed  in  slavery,  and  advocated  the  slave  trade.  And  it  was 
of  Whitfield  that  Whittier  made  the  two  lines  : 

He  bade  the  slave  ships  speed  from  coast  to  coast, 
Fanned  by  the  wings  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

We  have  lately  had  a  meeting  of  Methodists,  and  I  find  by  their 
statistics  that  they  believe  that  they  converted  130,000  folks  in  a 
year.  That,  in  order  to  do  this,  they  have  26,000  preachers,  226,000 
Sunday-school  scholars,  and  about  |ioo,ooo,ooo  invested  in  church 
property.  I  find  in  looking  over  the  history  of  the  world,  that  there 
are  40,000,000  or  00,000,000  of  people  born  a  year,  and  if  they  are  sav- 
ed at  the  rate  of  130,000  a  year,  about  how  long  will  it  take  that  doc- 
trine to  save  this  world  ?  Good,  honest  people;  but  they  are  mistaken. 

In  old  times  they  were  very  simple.  Churches  used  to  be  like 
barns.  They  used  to  have  them  divided— men  on  that  side,  and 
women  on  this.  A  little  barbarous.  We  have  advanced  since  then, 
and  now  we  find  as  a  fact,  demonstrated  by  experience,  that  a  man 
sitting  by  the  woman  he  loves  can  thank  God  as  heartily  as  though 
sitting  between  two  men  that  he  has  never  been  introduced  to. 

There  is  another  thing  the  Methodists  should  remember,  and 
that  is  that  the  Episcopalians  were  the  greatest  enemies  they  ever 
had.  And  they  should  remember  that  the  Free-Thinkers  htve  al- 
ways treated  them  kindly  and  well. 

•There  is  one  thing  about  the  Methodist  church  in  the  North  that 
I  like.  But  I  find  that  it  is  not  Methodism  that  does  that.  I  find 
that  the  Methodist  church  in  the  South  is  as  much  opposed  to  liberty 
as  the  Methodist  church  North  is  is  in  favor  of  liberty.  So  it  is  not 
Methodism  that  is  in  favor  of  liberty  or  slavery.  They  differ  a  little 
in  their  creed  from  the  rest.  They  do  not  believe  that  God  does 
everything.  They  believe  that  he  does  his  part,  and  that  you  must 
do  the  rest,  and  that  getting  to  heaven  is  a  partnership  business.  The 
Methodist  church  is  adapted  to  new  countries— its  ministers  are  gen- 
erally uncultured,  and  with  them  zeal  takes  the  place  of  knowledge. 
They  convert  people  with  noise.  In  the  silence  that  follows  most  of 
the  converts  backslide. 

In  a  little  while  a  struggle  will  commence  between  the  few  who 
are  growing  and  the  orthodox  many.  The  few  will  be  driven  out, 
and  the  church  will  be  governed  by  those  who  believe  without  under- 
standing. 


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IX. 

THE  PRESBYTERIANS. 

The  next  church  is  the  Presbyterian,  and  in  my  judgment  the 
worst  of  all,  as  far  as  creed  is  concerned.  This  church  was  founded 
by  John  Calvin,  a  murderer  ! 

rr  1  ^^^^  ^^\V?'  paving  power  in  Geneva,  inaugurated  human  torture. 
Voltaire  abolished  torture  in  France.    The  man  who  abolished  torture 
if  the  Christian   religion  be  true,  God   is   now  torturing  in  hell     and 
the  man  who  inaugurated  torture,   is  now  a  glorified  angel  in  heaven 
It  will  not  do. 

John  Knox  started  this  doctrine  in   Scotland,  and  there   is  this 
peculiarity  about   Presbyterianism— it  grows  best  where  the   soil   is 
poorest.     I  read  the  other  day  an  account  of  a  meeting  between  John 
Knox  and  John  Calvin.     Imagine  a  dialogue  between  a  pestilence  and 
a  famine  !     Imagine  a  conversation  between  a  block  and  an  ax  '     As  I 
read  their   conversation   it   seemed   to  me  as  though  John  Knox   and 
John  Calvin  were  made  for  each  other;  that  they   fitted   each  other 
like  the  upper  and  lower  jaws   of  a  wild  beast.     They  believed  happi- 
ness  was   a  crime;   they   looked    upon    laughter   as   blasphemy;    and 
they  did  all  they  could  to  destroy  every  human  feeling,  and  to  fill  the 
mind  with  infinite  gloom  of  predestination  and  eternal  death      They 
taught  the  doctrine  that  God  had  a  right  to  damn  us  because  lie  made 
us.     That   IS   just  the   reason   that  he   has   not  a  right  to  damn   us 
There   is   some   dust.     Unconscious  dust!     What   right   has    God  to 
change  that  unconscious  dust  into  a  human  being,  when   he  knows 
that  human  being  will  sin;   when   he  knows  that  human   being  will 
suffer  eternal  agony  ?     Why  not    leave  him  in  the  unconscious  dust  ? 
What   right  has  an  infinite  God  to  add   to  the  sum  of  human  agony  ? 
Suppose  I  knew  that  I  could  change  that  piece  of  furniture  into  a  liv- 
ing, sentient   human   being,  and  I  knew  that  that  being  would  suffer 
untold  agony  forever.     If  I  did  it,  I  would  be  a  fiend.     I  would    leave 
that  being  in  the  unconscious  dust.    And  yet  we  are  told  that  we  must 
believe  such  a  doctrine  or  we  are  to  be  eternally  damned  !     It  will  not 
do. 

In  1839  there  was  a  division  in  this  church,  and  they  had  a  law- 
suit to  see  which  was  the  church  of  God.  And  they  tried  it  by  a 
judge  and  jury,  and  the  jury  decided  that  tlie  new  school  was  the 
chTirch  Of  God,  and  then  they  got  a  new  trial,  and  the  next  jury  de- 
cided that  the  old  school  was  the  church  of  God,  and  that  settled  it 
That  church  teaches  that  infinite  innocence  was  sacrificed  for  me  '  1 
do  not  want  it !  I  do  not  wish  to  go  to  heaven  unless  I  can  settle  by 
the  books,  and  go  there  because  I  ought  to  go  there.  I  have  said  and 
I  say  again,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  a  charity  angel.  I  have  no  ambition 
|jto  become  a  winged  pauper  of  the  skies. 

The  other  day  a  young  gentleman,  a  Presbyterian  who  had  just 
been  converted,  came  to  me  and  he  gave  me  a  tract,  and  he  told  me  he 
was  perfectly   happy.     Said   I,  "  Do   you  think   a  great  many   people 

"fxr^n  ^^  ^''i  h^^^  •  '/  "  ^^''  y^^-  "  "  A°^^  yo"  a^e  perfectly  happy  ?  " 
Well,  he  did  not  know  as  he  was,  quite.  "  Would  not  you  be  happier 
if  they  were  all  going  to  heaven  ?  "  *'  Oh,  yes.  "  "Well,  then  vou 
are  not  perfectly  happy  ?  "  -No  he  did  not  think  he  was.  '»  "  When 
you  get  to  heaven,  then  you  will  be  perfectly  happy  ?  "  "Oh  yes  " 
"Now.  when  we  are  only  going  to  hell,  you  are  not  quite   happy;  but 

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when  we  are  in  hell,  and  you  in  heaven,  then  you  will  be  perfectly 
happy  ?  You  will  not  be  as  decent  when  you  get  to  be  an  angel  as 
you  are  now,  will  you  ?"  "  Well,  "  he  said  "  that  was  not  exactly 
it.  "  Said  I,  "  Suppose  your  mother  were  in  hell,  would  you  be 
happy  in  heaven  then  ?"  "  Well,  "  he  says,  "  I  suppose  God  would 
know  the  best  place  for  mother.  "  And  I  thought  to  myself,  then,  if 
I  was  a  woman,  I  would  like  to  have  five  or  six  boys  like  that. 

It  will  not  do.  Heaven  is  where  those  are  we  love,  and  those 
who  love  us.  And  I  wish  to  go  to  no  world  unless  I  can  be  accom- 
panied by  those  who  love  me  here.  Talk  about  the  consolations  of 
this  infamous  doctrine.  The  consolations  of  a  doctrine  that  makes  a 
father  say,  "  I  can  be  happy  with  my  daughter  in  hell;  "  that  makes 
a  mother  say,  "  I  can  be  happy  with  my  generous,  brave  boy  in  hell;  " 
that  makes  a  boy  say,  "I  can  enjoy  the  glory  of  heaven  with  the 
woman  who  bore  me,  the  woman  w/to  would  have  died  for  me  in 
eternal  agony.  "     And  they  call  that  tidings  of  great  joy. 

No  church  has  done  more  to  fill  the  world  with  gloom  than  the 
Presbyterian.  Its  creed  is  frightful,  hideous,  and  hellish.  The  Pres- 
byterian god  is  the  monster  of  monsters.  He  is  an  eternal  execu- 
tioner, jailer  and  turnkey.  He  will  enjoy  forever  the  shrieks  of  the 
lost, — the  wails  of  the  damned.  Hell  is  the  festival  o'f  the  Pres- 
byterian god. 


X. 

THE  EVANGELICAL  ALLIANCE. 

I  have  not  time  to  speak  of  the  Baptists, — that  Jeremy  Tailor  said 
were  as  much  to  be  rooted  out  as  anything  that  is  the  greatest  pest  and 
nuisance  on  the  earth.  He  hated  the  Baptists  because  they  repre- 
sented, in  some  little  degree,  the  liberty  of  thought.  Nor  have  I  time 
to  speak  of  the  Quakers,  the  best  of  all,  and  abused  by  all.  I  cannot 
forget  that  John  Fox,  in  the  year  of  grace,  1640,  was  put  in  the  pillory 
and  whipped  from  town  to  town,  scarred,  put  in  a  dungeon,  beaten, 
trampled  upon,  and  what  for  ?  Simply  because  he  preached  the 
doctrine:  "Thou  shalt  not  resist  evil  with  evil.  "  "Thou  slialt  love  thy 
enemies.  "  Think  of  what  the  church  must  have  been  that  day  to  scar 
the  flesh  of  that  loving  man  !  Just  think  of  it  ?  I  say  I  have  not  time 
to  speak  of  all  these  sects — the  vareties  of  Presbyterians  and  Camp- 
bellites.  There  are  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  these  sects,  all  found- 
ed upon  this  creed  that  I  read,  differing  simply  in  degree. 

Ah  !  but  they  say  to  me :  You  are  fighting  something  that  is 
dead.  Nobody  believes  this  now.  The  preachers  do  not  believe  what 
they  preach  in  the  pulpit.  The  people  in  the  pews  do  not  believe 
what  they  hear  preached.  And  they  say  tome:  You  are  fighting 
something  that  is  dead.  This  is  all  a  form,  we  do  not  believe  a 
solitary  creed  in  the  world.  We  sign  them  and  swear  that  we  believe 
them,  but  we  do  not.  And  none  of  us  do.  And  all  the  ministers,  they 
say  in  private,  admit  that  they  do  not  believe  it,  not  quite.  I  do 
not  know  whether  this  is  so  or  not.  I  take  it  that  they  believe  what 
they  preach.  I  take  it  that  when  they  meet  and  solemnly  agree  to  a 
creed,  they  are  honest  and  really  believe  in  that  creed.  But  let  us  see 
if  I  am  waging  a  war  against  the  ideas  of  the  dead.  Let  us  see  if  I  am 
storming  a  cemetery. 

^23) 


-a 


\ 


5^ 


vV^^ 


>    <>• 


V    ^ 


The  Evangelical  Alliance,  made  up  of  all  orthodox  denominations 
of  the  world,  met  only  a  few  years  ago,  and  here  is  their  creed  :  They 
believe  in  the  divine  inspiration,  authority  and  sufficiency  of  the 
holy  scriptnres;  the  right  and  duty  of  private  judgment  in  the  in- 
terpretation of  the  holy  scriptures;  but  if  you  interpret  wrong  you  are 
damned.  They  believe  in  the  unity  of  the  godhead  and  the  trinity 
of  the  persons  therein.  They  believe  in  the  utter  depravity  of  human 
nature.  There  can  be  no  more  infamous  doctrine  than  that.  They 
look  upon  a  child  as  a  lump  of  depravity.  I  look  upon  it  as  a  bud  of 
humanity,  that  will,  in  the  air  and  light  of  love  and  joy,  blossom  into 
rich  and  glorious  life. 

Total  depravity  of  human  nature  !  Here  is  a  woman  whose  hus- 
band has  been  lost  at  sea;  the  news  comes  that  he  has  been  drowned 
by  the  ever-hungry  waves,  and  she  waits.  There  is  something  in  her 
heart  that  tells  ner  he  is  alive.  And  she  waits.  And  years  after- 
wards as  she  looks  down  toward  the  little  gate  she  sees  him;  he  has 
been  given  back  by  the  sea,  and  she  rushes  to  his  arms,  and  covers 
his  face  with  kisses  and  with  tears.  And  if  that  infamous  doctrine  is 
true  every  tear  is  a  crime,  and  every  kiss  a  blasphemy.  It  will  not 
do.  According  to  that  doctrine,  if  a  man  steals  and  repents,  and 
takes  back  the  property,  the  repentance  and  the  taking  back  of  the 
property  are  two  other  crimes.  It  is  an  infamy.  What  else  do  they 
believe?  "The  justification  of  a  sinner  by  faith  alone,"  without 
works — just  faith.  Believing  something  that  you  do  not  understand. 
Of  jcourse  God  can  not  afford  to  reward  a  man  for  believing  anything 
that  is  reasonable.  God  rewards  only  for  believing  something  that  is 
unreasonable.  If  you  believe  something  that  is  improbable  ana  un- 
reasonable, you  are  a  Christian;  but  if  you  believe  something  that  you 
know  is  not  so,  then, — you  are  a  saint. 

They  believe  in  the  eternal  blessedness  of  the  righteous,  and  in 
the  eternal  punishment  of  the  wicked. 

Tidings  of  great  joy !  They  are  so  good  that  they  will  not  as- 
sociate with  Universalists.  They  will  not  associate  with  the  Uni- 
tarians; they  will  not  associate  with  scientists;  they  will  only  associate 
with  those  who  believe  that  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  made  up 
his  mind  to  damn  the  most  of  us. 

The  Evangelical  Alliance  reiterates  the  absurdities  of  the  Dark 
Ages — repeats  the  five  points  of  Calvin — replenishes  the  fires  of  hell — 
certifies  to  the  mistakes  and  miracles  of  the  bible — maligns  the  human 
race,  and  kneels  to  a  human  god  who  accepted  the  agony  of  the  inno- 
cent as  an  atonement  for  the  guilty. 


i 


XI. 

WHAT  DO  YOU    PROPOSE? 

Then  they  say  to  me  :  "  What  do  you  propose  ?  You  have  torn 
this  down,  what  do  you  propose  to  give  us  in  place  of  it  ?  "  I  have 
not  torn  the  good  down.  I  have  only  endeavored  to  trample  out 
the  ignorant,  cruel  fires  of  hell.  I  do  not  tear  away  the  passage: 
"  God  will  be  merciful  to  the  merciful.  "  I  do  not  destroy  the 
promise;  "  If  ^ou  will  forgive  others,  God  will  forgive  you.  "  I  would 
not  for  anything  blot  out  the  faintest   star  that  shines  in  the   horizon 


9: 


>   ■  ^^ 


i 


\ 


>» 


?  " 


of  human  despair,  nor  in  the  sky  of  human  hope;  but  I  will  do  what  I 
can  to  get  that  infinite  shadow  out  of  the  heart  of  man. 

**  What  do  you  propose  in  place  of  this  ?  " 

Well»  in  the  first  place,  I  propose  good  fellowship — good  friends 
all  around.  No  matter  what  we  believe,  shate  hands  and  let  it  go. 
That  is  your  opinion;  this  is  mine  :  let  us  be  friends.  Science  makes 
friends;  religion,  superstition,  makes  enemies.  They  say  :  Belief  is 
important.  I  say  :  No,  actions  are  important.  Judge  by  deed,  not 
by  creed.  Good  fellowship — good  friends — sincere  men  and  women — 
mutual  forbearance,  born  of  mutual  respect.  We  have  had  too  many 
of  these  solemn  people.  Whenever  I  see  an  exceedingly  solemn  man, 
I  know  he  is  an  exceedingly  stupid  man.  No  man  of  any  humor  ever 
founded  a  religion — never.  Humor  sees  both  sides.  While  reason  is 
the  holy  light,  humor  carries  the  lantern,  and  the  man  with  a  keen 
sense  of  humor  is  preserved  from  the  solemn  stupidities  of  super- 
stition. I  like  a  man  who  has  got  good  feeling  for  everybody;  good 
fellowship.     One  man  said  to  another  : 

**  Will  you  take  a  glass  of  wine  ?  " 

•*  I  do  not  drink." 

•*  Will  you  smoke  a  cigar  ? 

"  I  do  not  smoke.  " 

"Maybe  you  will  chew  something 

'•  I  do  not  chew.  " 

"Let  us  eat  some  hay.  " 

"  I  tell  you  I  do  not  eat  hay.  " 

"  Well,  then,  good-by,  for  you  are  no  company  for  man  or  beast.  \ 

I  believe  in  the  gospel  of  Cheerfulness,  thegospel  of  Good  Nature; 
the  gospel  of  Good  Health.  Let  us  pay  some  attention  to  our  bodies. 
Take  care  of  our  bodies,  and  our  souls  will  take  care  of  themselves. 
Good  health  !  And  I  believe  the  time  will  come  when  the  public 
thought  will  be  so  great  and  grand  that  it  will  be  looked  upon  as  in- 
famous to  perpetuate  disease.  I  believe  the  time  will  come  when  man 
will  not  fill  the  future  with  consumption  and  insanity.  I  believe  the 
time  will  come  when  we  w411  study  ourselves,  and  understand  the 
laws  of  health  and  then  we  will  say  :  We  are  under  obligation  to  put 
the  flags  of  health  in  the  cheeks  of  our  children.  Even  if  I  got  to 
heaven,  and  had  a  harp,  I  would  hate  to  look  back  on  my  children 
and  grand-children,  and  see  them  diseased,  deformed,  crazed — all 
suffering  the  penalties  of  crimes  I  had  committed. 

I  believe  in  the  gospel  of  Good  Living.  You  can  not  make  any 
god  happy  by  fasting.  Let  us  have  good  food,  and  let  us  have  it  well 
cooked — and  it  is  a  thousand  times  better  to  know^  how  to  cook  than 
it  is  to  understand  any  theology  in  the  world.  I  believe  in  the  gospel 
of  good  clothes;  I  believe  in  the  gospel  of  good  houses;  in  the  gospel 
of  water  and  soap.  I  believe  in  the  gospel  of  intelligence;  in  the 
gospel  of  education.  The  schoolhouse  is  my  cathedral.  The  universe 
is  my  bible.  I  believe  in  that  gospel  of  justice,  that  we  must  reap 
what  we  sow. 

I  do  not  believe  in  forgiveness  as  it  is  preached  by  the  church. 
We  do  not  need  the  forgiveness  of  God,  but  of  each  other  and  of  our- 
selves. If  I  rob  Mr.  Smith  and  God  forgives  me,  how  does  that  help 
Mr.  Smith  ?  If  I,  by  slander,  cover  some  poor  ^irl  with  the  leprosy 
of  some  imputed  crime,  and  she  withers  away  like  a  blighted  flow^er 
and  afterward  I  get  the   forgiveness  of  God,  how   does  that  help  her  ? 


(24) 


(25) 


If  there  is  another  world,  we  have  got  to  settle  with   the  people  we 
be^^aid'"'^"^^    ^"   this.     Nobankrupt  court  there.     Every  cent  must 

The  Christians  say,  that  among  the  ancient  Jews,  if  you  commit- 
ed  a  crime  you  had  to  kill  a  sheep.  Now  they  say  •'  charge  it  "  "  Put 
It  on  the  slate.  "  It  will  not  do.  For  every  crime  you  commit  vou 
must  answer  to  yourself  and  to  the  one  you  injure.  And  if  you  have 
ever  clothed  another  with  woe.  as  with  a  garment  of  pain,  you  will 
never  be  quite  as  happy  as  though  you  had  not  done  that  thmi?.  No 
forgiveness  by  the  gods.  Eternal,  inexorable,  everlasting  justice,  so 
far  as  Nature  is  concerned.  You  must  reap  the  result  of  your  acts. 
Even  when  forgiven  by  the  one  you  have  injured,  it  is  not  as  though 
the  injury  had  not  been  done.  That  is  what  I  believe  in.  And  if  it 
goes  hard  with  me,  I  will  stand  it,  and  I  will  cling  to  my  logic,  and  I 
will  bear  it  like  a  man.  ^      e>    » 

And  I  believe,  too,  in  the  gospel  of  Liberty,  in  giving  to  others 
what  we  claim  for  ourselves.  I  believe  there  is  room  everywhere  for 
thought,  and  the  more  liberty  you  give  awav,  the  more  you  will  have, 
in  liberty  extravagance  is  economy.  Let  us  be  just.  Let  us  be  gen- 
erous to  each  other.  ^ 

I  believe  in  the  gospel  of  Intelligence.  That  is  the  only  lever 
capable  of  raising  mankind.  Intelligence  must  be  the  savior  of  this 
world  Humanity  is  the  grand  religion,  and  no  God  can  put  a  man 
in  hell  in  another  world,  who  has  made  a  little  heaven  in  this.  God 
cannot  make  a  man  miserable  if  that  man  has  made  somebody  else 
happy.  God  cannot  hate  anybody  who  is  capable  of  loving  anybodv. 
Humanity— that  word  embraces  all  there  is.  s      J        ^ 

So  I  believe  in  this  great  gospel  of  Humanity. 

••Ah  .'but,  "  they  say,  "  it  will  not  do.  You  must  believe. "  '  I 
say  No.  My  gospel  of  health  will  bring  life.  My  gospel  of  in- 
telligence, my  gospel  of  good  living,  my  gospel  of  good-fellowship 
will  cover  the  world  with  happy  homes.  My  doctrine  will  put  car- 
pets upon  your  floors,  pictures  upon  vour  walls.  My  doctrine  will 
put  books  upon  your  shelves,  ideas  in  your  minds.  My  doctrine  will 
rid  the  world  of  the  abnormal  monsters  born  of  ignorance  and  super- 
stition. My  doctrine  will  give  us  health,  wealth  and  happiness. 
That  IS  what  I  want.  That  is  what  I  believe  in.  Give  us  intelligence, 
in  a  little  while  a  man  will  find  that  he  can  not  steal  without  robbing 
himself.  He  will  find  that  he  cannot  murder  without  assassinating 
his  own  joy.  He  will  find  that  every  crime  is  a  mistake.  He  will 
hna  that  only  that  man  carries  the  cross  who  does  wrong,  and  that 
upon  the  man  who  does  right  the  cross  turns  to  wings  that  will  bear 
him  upward  forever.  He  will  find  that  even  intelligent  self-love  em- 
braces within  Its  mighty  arms  all  the  human  race. 

"Oh,  "  but  they  say  to  me,  *'  you  take  away  immortality.  "  I  do 
not.  If  we  are  immortal  it  is  a  fact  in  nature,  and  we  are  not  indebted 
bel? T^*^        ^^'  "^^  ^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^'  ^^"^  ^^  cannot  be  destroyed  by  un- 

As  long  as  we  love  we  will  hope  to  live,  and  when  the  one  dies 
that  we  love  we  will  say:  "  Oh.  that  we  could  meet  again,"  and 
whether  we  do  or  not  it  will  not  be  the  work  of  theology.  It  will  be 
a  fact  in  nature.  I  would  not  for  my  life  destrov  one  star  of  human 
nope,  but  I  want  it  so  that  when  a  poor  woman  rocks  the  cradle  and 
sings  a  lullaby  to  the  dimpled  darling,  she  will   not  be  compelled  to 


r26) 


♦ 


N 


V 


jf 


believe  that  ninety-nine  chances  in  a  hundred  she  is  raising  kindling 
wood  for  hell.  *  * 

One  world  at  a  time  is  my  doctrine. 

It  is  said  in  this  Testament,  •'  Sufficient  unto  the  day   is   the  evil 
thereof;  "  and  I  say :     Sufficient  unto  each  world  is  the  evil  thereof. 

And  suppose  after  all  that  death  does  end  all.  Next  to  eternal 
joy,  next  to  being  forever  with  those  we  love  and  those  that  have 
loved  us,  next  to  that,  is  to  be  wrapt  in  the  dreamless-drapery  of 
eternal  peace  Next  to  eternal  life  is  eternal  sleep.  Upon  the  shadowy 
shore  of  death  the  sea  of  trouble  casts  no  wave.  Eyes  that  have  been 
curtained  by  the  everlasting  dark,  will  never  know  again  the  burning  \ 
touch  of  tears.  Lips  touched  by  eternal  silence  will  never  speak 
again  the  broken  words  of  grief.  Hearts  of  dust  do  not  break.  The 
dead  do  not  weep.  Within  the  tomb  no  veiled  and  weeping  sorrow 
sits,  and  in  the  rayless  gloom  is  crouched  no  shuddering  fear 

I  had  rather  think  of  those  I  have  loved,  and  lost,  as  having  re- 
turned to  earth,  as  having  become  a  part  of  the  elemental  wealth  of 
the  world— I  would  rather  think  of  them  as  unconscious  dust,  I 
would  rather  dream  of  them  as  gurgling  in  the  streams,  floating  in 
the  clouds,  bursting  in  the  foam  of  light  upon  the  shores  of  worlds,  t 
would  rather  think  of  them  as  the  lost  vision  of  a  forgotten  night 
than  to  have  even  the  faintest  fear  that  their  naked  souls  have  been 
clutched  by  an  orthodox  god.  I  will  leave  my  dead  where  nature 
leaves  them.  Whatever  flower  of  hope  springs  up  in  mv  heart  I  will 
cherish,  I  will  give  it  breath  of  sighs  and  rain  of  tears.  But  I  can  not 
believe  that  there  is  any  being  in  this  universe  who  has  created  a 
human  soul  for  eternal  pain.  I  would  rather  that  every  god  would 
destroy  himself;  Iwould  rather  that  we  all  should  go  to  eternal  chaos 
to  black  and  starless  night,  than  that  iust  one  soul  should  suffer  eternal 
agony. 

I  have  made  up  my  mind  that  if  there  is  a  God,  he  will  be  merciful 
to  the  merciful. 

Upon  that  rock  I  stand. — 

That  he  will  not  torture  the  forgiving. — 

Upon  that  rock  I  stand. — 

That  every  man  should  be  true  to  himself,  and  that  there  is  no 
world,  no  star,  in  which  honesty  is  a  crime. 

Upon  that  rock  I  stand.— 

The  honest  man,  the  good  woman,  the  happy  child,  have  nothing 
to  fear,  either  in  this  world  or  the  world  to  come. 

Upon  that  rock  I  stand. 


27) 


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